The Hunters of Archer
by Deepdownsea
Summary: Perseus is on a mission to fulfill his mother and uncle's wishes. Instead of being the prophecy child of the Great Prophecy, Perseus must choose which side he is going to fight on. He harbors resentment to the gods specifically Apollo and Artemis. Follow him on his journey of choosing the right path while also helping and recruiting members into his group. Rated T for mild swearing
1. Chapter 1

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me.**

 **Chapter 1**

There she was in all her glory, the Titaness of the moon. Riding her moon chariot, watching the glistening stars and the radiant moon. But something was different about her. Her form, specifically her midsection in particular, was plump. Inside of her womb was a child, waiting to be born.

It wasn't something she had planned on, but it was too late now. She was stuck with the unborn child in her womb and the next best thing she could do was bore it and raise it with love. Sadly she had to keep this child hidden, which was a very hard task, due to her increase in size. The only other individual who knew the details of her pregnancy, was her twin brother Helios. Even then, he didn't know the full details of how it occurred.

Selene hadn't expected to ever have a child with a mere mortal. Especially, since most of her titan kind believed that mortals weren't worth the time or day. If her father Hyperion would ever find out what she was carrying such an abomination, she would no doubt lose her child due to her father's rage.

She hadn't expected to fall in love with a mortal. Especially, a selenographer. She had just stumbled onto him one night. While he was admiring her domain, the moon. He had a huge infatuation with the moon. He loved everything about it, it was a mystery he wanted to uncover. He was studying the moon for a specific research he was doing that could be groundbreaking for the scholars during that era.

The way he spoke to her with kindness and respect led to her believe that he was a different man, someone she could enjoy her time with. Selene even contributed some information, only she knew about the moon to the mortal. He of course asked her how she could know, but she eventually convinced him, that like him, she was also a selenographer.

She doesn't even remember how it happened. One second they were talking, then the next they were committing the act of bringing a life into this forsaken world. She of course quickly ceased contact with the man, for she didn't want him to be found by other Titans. Especially since some of her aura had rubbed onto him. She knew his heart was broken, but it had to be done. Before leaving him, she blessed him with more knowledge of the moon, so he wouldn't sulk for long. So he could eventually move on after gaining fame, for his groundbreaking studies.

Sadly for him, Selene's blessing ended up being a curse. Once he presented his findings and research to other scholars, he was accused of heresy. For his crimes of heresy, he was hung. On that specific night of the man's death, the moon was extremely dim. The moon was mirroring Selene's emotions, which was sadness and resentment.

 **MOON MOON MOON MOON MOON MOON MOON**

Finally the time had passed and it was time for her to go into labor. Helping her was herself and Helios. She had to bore him in the wild, under the glistening moon, at the peak of her power. However, Helios was at his weakest, which meant if an enemy found them there was a chance they could be wounded.

Luckily, nothing that night had come upon them and the child was born. The moon shined brighter when the moon finally could see the newborn. He had midnight black hair, with a slight tan complexion. When the child opened his eyes, Helios couldn't help but smile. His eyes were silver, the same as his mother's. He could also tell, that the child was going to be very handsome. Furthermore he felt the child's aura and it was very strong almost as strong as his mother's.

As Selene was cradling her newborn child she said, "You shall be named Perseus, Percy for short. I will teach you the ways of the moon." She was running of fumes. She was extremely tired and she finally collapsed into a much needed sleep. Helios had taken charge and decided to keep watch during the night, even if he was at his weakest.

Progressing through the years, Perseus grew into a young eight year old. Since he wasn't immortal, his mother had to take it easy on him, when training him. She didn't want to push him too much. At first, Perseus was terrible at archery, something Selene couldn't believe. How could a son of the Moon Titaness not be excellent at marksmanship? It just took extra hard work and some pushing for Percy to improve dramatically. By the end of it all, Percy was an amazing archer. Better than even his mother. Selene had always told him that the next generation would eventually surpass the previous one. The lessons his mother taught him, Percy took to heart and with extreme seriousness. Except his uncle Helios. With his shining personality, Helios made Percy a charming, flirtatious, and sarcastic child. Which was all fine for Selene because she didn't want her son to be serious all the time.

Percy was going to be an attractive demi titan by the time he grew up. Helios could see that most of Percy's physical resemblance was of his mother. The way he frowned or smiled could send giddiness into anyone, no matter the gender.

Sadly, Percy was going to eventually lose both of his parent figures. The only ones that could ever love him for who he was. Both Helios and his mother had told him that their parents and their extended family would never accept him into their family. But Helios and his mother was the only family he ever needed.

Soon it was revealed that there was a great prophecy that would entail the downfall of the titan reign. A younger generation of immortals, specifically the titan's offspring, would overthrow King Kronos. Helios and Percy's mother Selene decided to side with the Olympians, the younger generation of gods. Helios was heavily involved in the brunt of the fighting, while Selene decided to avoid fighting and stay neutral. The Great Prophecy was fulfilled when the gods supplanted the titans as rulers of the earth. The titans that weren't involved in the war were left alone, but were monitored from time to time. The Olympians began taking domains and began ruling the world. The titans who were defeated where bound and tossed into the worst depths of Tartarus. His grandfather Hyperion, one of Kronos's loyal subjects, was sentenced to the harsh punishment of being banished to Tartarus.

Selene one day, with her brother Helios, approached the young Perseus who was now the tender age of eighteen. Percy noticed that both of them looked pale and nervous.

"Mother and uncle Helios what is wrong?" Both his mother and his uncle regained their composure. They plastered fake smiles onto their faces. But Percy could see through their deception, his mother had taught him how to read people.

"Nothing that concerns you, son. But you see, Helios and I are going to have to leave." Before she could finish I cut my mother off.

"Leave? Why?" Both of them looked at me with pity.

"Perseus, neither Helios nor I want to leave you. But circumstances have come to that." Selene was struggling to form words. She noticed that her son was breaking to pieces and it broke her heart.

"We are fading Percy. Ever since the new Olympians have taken over. We have been growing weak. No one worships me nor your uncle as much now. Someone will replace us." Percy knew what fading meant. It meant he would no longer have his mother nor his uncle looking after him. It was like death, it was permanent.

"You're joking right uncle Helios. Tell mother this isn't funny." Helios gave me a defeated smile. It was the truth after all.

"Who's' replacing you? How dare they replace you?" Selene was contemplating if she should tell her son who they were. If she did, she would risk Percy getting hatred and resentment to the gods replacing them. Deep down, she was also resentful on the new twins taking their positions.

"They're a new batch of twins. They go by the names of Apollo and Artemis. As you can guess, Apollo is taking over your uncle Helios's domain. Artemis is taking mine." Percy's silver eyes darkened. She sensed his hatred towards them and she didn't blame him.

"Percy do not resent them, for it is not their fault. Promise me that Percy." Selene looked into her son's silver eyes, the same shade of her own.

"I promise mother. I promise I won't go after them or get myself killed." Both titans sighed a sigh relief. Percy could cause destruction when he was angry and neither titan wanted for their pride and joy to be banished into Tartarus for his crimes.

Percy looked at his parents expectantly. So this was it. The last time they would ever see each other. It hurt Percy a lot, he had grown to love them so much. Willing to sacrifice his own life to make sure they were safe. But a fading titan was something totally out of his control. He felt so helpless. All the training he had done since a young age hadn't prepared him for something he had no power over. He felt utterly useless, unable to protect those he loved.

"Our time is short kid. Let's say our goodbyes before it's too late." Although Helios would never cry in front of anyone, he had to admit that his nephew had a soft spot in his heart. Percy had the power to make you love him. He didn't know how his sister was holding up. She had to be breaking into a million pieces, like Kronos. Knowing that she would never see her son again.

"Remember all I taught you Percy. I have a feeling you will play an important role in future events. Trust your instincts Percy, more often than not, they're correct. Take care Percy." As Selene embraced her only son she finally broke down. She wasn't the only one. Percy broke down as well. His mother finally let go and he already missed her presence.

Next up was Helios, "Remember kid you're like the sun. You brighten everyone's day, even mine. Also remember everything I taught you on how to get the girl you want." Even though this was a sad goodbye. Helios always had the sense of humor to make everyone laugh, even his serious sister.

It was coming to an end. Selene and Helios felt their power draining by the minute. They never expected to fade, but that was a harsh reality they had to face. At least they left something that represented them both. And that was Percy. Percy had learned from both of them. Whether it was how to shoot a bow, ride a chariot, or even flirt with girls, both of them knew he would be successful.

They gathered around for their last time. "Remember kid, we'll always be in here." Helios and Selene placed their hands on Percy's heart. "Everyone else will forget about us, but you won't. You are a living representation of the both of us." Percy placed his own hand over his mother's and uncle's hand. The last time he would ever physically feel their presence.

"As a last gift before we fade, we want to give you our blessing." Helios and Selene put their hands on Percy's head as they transferred the little bit of power and essence they had. Percy felt burning sensations on his arms and hands. As he looked at his hands he realized that on the back of his right hand there was a moon tattoo. On the back of his left hand there was a tattoo of the sun. The burning sensation on his arms was because of the same thing. On his right arm, decorating his whole arm were tattoos of the moon and the stars. On his left arm decorating his whole arm were tattoos of the sun, clouds, and eyes.

"We are about to fade Percy." His mother was barely able to talk. Fading was painful and it took all her remaining strength to even speak to Percy.

"With our last power and essence, Helios and I grant you the gift of immortality." Percy was shocked, he wanted to yell no, that he wasn't worthy of immortality. He couldn't save his loved ones. How could he deserve such a gift? But his voice didn't work, no words came out.

Helios and Selene were speaking in an ancient language Percy didn't recognize. He stood there as they poured their very power and essence into Percy. It took some time, but it ended. His mother and uncle gave him one last smile before he was engulfed in a bright light. He fell into unconsciousness.

Percy didn't know it then, but Selene and Helios do live within him. Some of the hard choices he has to take in the future, their combined wisdom will be the ones that get him through it.

 **A/N Tell me how the chapter was. Review to tell me what you liked, so I feel I'm not writing to myself, or in vain. Also, this story is going to continue depending on the feedback I get. It's going to follow some of the storyline from the books. Instead of Percy being the prophecy child he will be someone helping fulfill the prophecy. Also you'll get the meaning of the title of the story in the next chapter. If there is one.**

 **P.S Sorry for the grammar mistakes. Also I don't know if Percy in this story should have a love interest or not. Should I keep his cynical view on life? You guys decide.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me.**

 **Chapter 2**

Years passed after the painful departure of his beloved parents. Years turned into decades and decades turned into centuries. Still Percy felt that unbearable pain in his heart. He no longer had the two most important people in his life. He felt broken and shallow. The world for which he was born into was such a cruel place. During his journeys around the world, he witnessed horrors which further reinforced his views on the harsh reality he was living in.

He witnessed demigods such as Theseus and Heracles do the brunt work for the gods. While they sat on their thrones leisurely watching the hardships of their children. He resented the gods for not caring or even remembering his parents. As if they were nothing, not being worthy of being remembered. Which fueled his rage even more.

Since demigods were direct descendants of the gods, he harbored deep hatred for them as well. Now don't get it twisted. Percy would never kill a demigod. He just stayed away from them. He watched them from the shadows, hoping for their ultimate demise. As he watched, he realized that some demigods such as Heracles met a harsh or brutal death. Percy came to the conclusion that even if you were a spawn of the gods, you were ultimately just a mere pawn. You were unimportant, not worth the time or day of the proud gods. If you died, you died, as long as they were still high and mighty, they didn't care.

Percy saw the great empire of Rome and the evil slaughter that they called entertainment. Percy was so powerful he had to hide his aura from being discovered by other immortals, which was a hard task. He blended into the crowd as a beggar asking for money, or as a priest screaming the praises of how _good the gods were._ Since he blended in so well into the surrounding crowd he was never paid a second glance, something he was grateful for.

He strolled through the walkways of the Roman city and into the colosseum. As he awaited to watch more violence and more death.

"People of Rome, welcome to the grand colosseum. Today we have a special treat for you. We have brought prisoners from war, from the surrounding empires. They today, must fight for their lives, even if their lives mean nothing to us." The senator further projected his voice as the crowds held in their excitement.

Percy noticed that the prisoners had to fight trained Roman soldiers, without a weapon. At this point Percy knew this wasn't entertainment, it was slaughter. The colosseum was full of thousands of Roman citizens from all scales of their hierarchy. Rich merchants and commoners littered the colosseum, while Roman officers sat separated from the rest.

"Let the battles begin." The crowd roared a deafening scream. How could they be so excited to see people slaughtered without a second thought? Of course, they had no fear because it wasn't them. Rome was at the top of its empire, no one daring to challenge them. They lived in a safe ignorance.

As they released the prisoners, the realization hit Percy like being stabbed through a sword in the heart. Most of the prisoners were children, no older than the age of twelve. Sprinkled in were some of the warriors from the enemy empire. But they were already starved to the brink of death. The sight was something barbaric and inhumane. The slaughtering begun, people cheered as their entertainment had finally begun. Blood and screams were more present than ever.

Percy's body was moving on its own. He made his way down the steps of the colosseum and dropped into the arena. A collective gasp was heard throughout the crowd. The crowd didn't know Percy was an immortal, he was disguised as a beggar with a cloak covering his entire body. He was someone who wasn't worth a second glance. Then the crowd began to cheer "Kill. Kill. Kill."

The trained Roman warriors made their way towards Percy. Cocky grins plastered on their faces, an easy prey. In their minds they probably thought, a harmless beggar waiting to be put out of his misery. They attempted to, but Percy denied them that right. He skillfully dodged their swords and disarmed them rather quickly. He knocked each of them out cold. Out of the corner of his eye he realized almost everyone was dead. Almost everyone, except one. One child was standing and he had a warrior's heart. He had the will to live, unlike his demised brethren. The child was dodging and weaving as best as he could, avoiding the lone soldier. But exhaustion and sweat was evident all over his face. Percy had to save him.

The boy fell down from exhaustion while the Roman soldier stood over him, sword raised. He was ready to send the child into the afterlife. Percy felt power course through him, he felt hot, and he felt bright. The air around him turned hot and humid. Sweat was beading everyone's head. The crowd wasn't pleased.

Percy was using the sun from up above to increase the heat. The solider was sweating, sweat dripped all over his forehead, arms, and neck. In a flash Percy tackled the soldier before he could drop and impale the child with his sword. With the Roman's own sword, he knocked him unconscious with blunt end of the blade. Officials were flooding the arena ready to arrest the traitor of Rome. Percy had attacked a Roman officer on Roman soil. He was a traitor, he himself declared, by hurting the Roman that he was an enemy.

He however, wasn't going to be subdued by them. He quickly picked up the boy and tossed him over his shoulder. Percy began running to the wall that separated the crowd from the arena. He quickly jumped up and ran into the crowd. He was hoping he was going to be lost in the crowd, with the sudden outbursts that was happening to the unhappy mob that was forming.

Roman officers quickly followed in pursuit but the crowds were in outrage, they blocked their path. The entertainment was not up to par for their standards and they were letting them know. Percy quickly navigated through the crowds of people, shoving anyone in his way. In no time he was on the streets heading to an abandoned temple of his mother Selene.

The boy was unconscious from exhaustion and Percy didn't blame him. The kid was pumped with adrenaline the whole time he was dodging and weaving for his life. After the situation was over, the adrenaline seemed to vanish and so did his consciousness. Percy waited for the boy to wake up. But it took till night fall for him to finally wake up.

The boy woke up terrified. The poor boy had a nightmare, Percy could tell by his sudden outburst.

"Hey, you need to calm down." Percy approached the boy slowly but the child was still afraid. He curled himself up in a ball. Not noticing, Percy was still wearing his midnight black cloak which hid his face. Perhaps that was the reason the boy was afraid. Quickly, he snatched the cloak and revealed that he was just a regular eighteen year old teenager.

"You aren't going to hurt me are you? They promised they wouldn't hurt my mother. But they ended up killing her. Blood was everywhere." Tears were streaming down the boy's face. Percy could connect with him on an emotional level. After all, he lost his mother to.

"I promise I won't hurt you. Besides I just saved you from them. Why would I go through all the trouble just to end up hurting you?" The boy just nodded. Deep down he knew this stranger was the only reason he was still alive.

"What is your name?" He looked up at Percy, conflict apparent in his eyes. He was debating whether he should trust this stranger with his name.

"A-Altair. My name is Altair. I'm ten years old. My family is from the conquered Greek empire." Percy had long since before despised the Romans. They were one of the causes his uncle Helios and his mother Selene had faded. They believed that Helios and Selene were no longer important. So they threw them away.

"Alright Altair my name is Perseus. Now get some rest, I'm going to get food for the both of us. Here's my cloak for warmth. Do not worry this temple is my mother's and these Romans have long since abandoned her, they won't look in here. Rest assured." Before leaving Percy strapped something to his back, while carrying a quiver of arrows.

Percy walked out the entryway. He wasn't worried that there were no doors for his mother's temple. Selene's abandoned temple was a ways away from the city, he was on the outskirts. No one visited or paid attention to the structure. So he was sure that Altair wasn't going to receive any unwanted guests.

He walked through the empty walkways of the city. Percy knew that walking during the night was dangerous. Dangerous people lurked during the night in the city. But he was immortal after all, he couldn't be killed. He could be hurt, but never during his lifetime has he been scratched, by anything. The only time he was ever scratched or was in any particular danger, was when he trained with his mother or uncle.

Just thinking of them made his heart hurt. He felt as if someone was squeezing his heart. As if they were trying to make it burst. But alas it never did burst, the pain was constant and it had no end. To forget his pain or to even have anything that resembled fun, he decided that adventures would help him cope and forget. That was the reason that led him into the Roman Empire, he liked facing danger. Danger was an escape from pain. Danger was a way of life for him, it made him happy to fight for his life. That's how he obtained his Night and Darkness Bow.

Strapped to his back was the Night and Darkness bow. Hand crafted by the primordial goddess Nyx and her husband Erebos. . It rivaled Zeus's, or in the Roman's case Jupiter's master bolt. He had won it from Nyx, it was more of feat or an accomplishment.

 _Flashback_

 _Perseus had ventured into the depths of Tartarus trying to face the dangers that lurked from within. He carefully navigated through the inferno without being detected. After all, it wasn't his time to be revealed to the world yet._

 _He stupidly walked through Tartarus, a little too close to Nyx's territory. He saw a dark house enveloped by more darkness and dark mist. He made his way towards it and the goddess Nyx had revealed herself to him. Since Perseus was nothing compared to Nyx she of course threatened to spread his essence thin so he would never reform._

 _However, she seemed to be in a good mood that day. She gave him a challenge. If he passed the challenge he would leave with his life and a hand crafted weapon from Nyx and Erebos themselves. Perseus of course accepted because he wanted to live. Nyx challenged him to navigate through the Mansion of Night, if he survived and still had his sanity he would survive her wrath._

 _Perseus opened the doors of her mansion and immediately his field of vision was gone. He tried to use his mother and uncle's power for a source of light. But even Helios's sunlight was engulfed by the darkness and night. He knew that if he kept his eyes open, he would go utterly insane. The suspense of something lurking around waiting to pounce was enough to make anyone insane. So he used his mother's training of navigating blind through the other senses. He could smell death and golden ichor spread throughout the structure. He heard gut wrenching screams that would give him nightmares for the next decade of his life. Hellhounds attacked him but Perseus was a master swordsman, he could fight blind by using his nose and hearing to locate his enemy._

 _He finally reached the end of the Mansion of Night and opened the backdoor. Once he could see red through his closed eyes, he finally opened his eyes to see. He hadn't realized but he was shaking with fear, something no one else had ever done._

" _Congratulation young Titan. No lesser immortal has accomplished what have you accomplished. This is no small feat. For passing my challenge I shall let you keep your life. I also promised you a hand crafted weapon of your choice, so choose wisely." Perseus noticed that goddess Nyx had no physical form. She was swallowed by night and darkness. All he saw was black mist with eyes on them._

" _I-I want a bow." Perseus managed to stutter out. Nyx seemed to find his fear refreshing and hilarious._

" _Very well Titan. Here it is. This bow is indestructible. Not even a direct attack from Zeus's lightning bolt will destroy it. So don't lose it." Within the blink of an eye Nyx handed Percy the Night and Darkness bow with her hands made up of dark mist._

" _I already knew you were going to pass my challenge. For you will play a great role in the next Great Prophecy. You have been blessed by fate to become a strong titan. I hope we meet again, young Perseus." What made Percy shiver the most was the fact that Nyx knew his name. He had never mentioned his name to her or any one for that matter. How could she know?_

Present

Till this day Percy didn't know how Nyx knew his name. All he knows is that if Nyx wanted to end his insignificant life by spreading his essence thin, she could've. But she didn't. He was at a loss on why all this was coursing through his mind. He had to get focused again.

Percy was nearing the little meat shop. The one that he always bought from ever since he had entered the city. He picked some dried beef from the butcher and he easily complied. He tossed the butcher a small pouch of silver coins. He made one more stop and that was to buy bread.

All his tasks and errands were done. Now he had to return to Altair to feed the frightful child. Up ahead was his mother's temple. Neglected and abandoned. The temple was still intact but it was no longer maintained, it was rather dirty and unpleasant. But it was somewhere safe to stay.

As Percy approached the entryway, he heard no noise. It was absolutely silent. Did Altair leave in the cover of night? As he wandered more into the temple he began to believe that maybe he did leave. Until he heard his voice.

"Perseus is that you?" Altair poked his head from behind a column behind the far end altar.

"Yes. Altair it is I. I have brought us our meal for the night." Altair quickly made his way to Percy. Altair was starved like the rest of the prisoners. He was very scrawny and that had halted his growth.

"Here take some meat and bread." Altair quickly snatched the food from Percy and began to munch and swallow the food. Altair had never ate something so good in his life.

His parents worked the fields to provide for the Roman Empire. He had never tasted meat before. Meat was very expensive, he didn't know how the stranger could afford it himself.

Percy was eying Altair and couldn't help but smile. Altair reminded him of himself. When his mom gave him food and how he scarfed down. His mother had always told him that he never tasted the food, he just swallowed it.

"Would you like to be in my company?" The words that came out of Percy's mouth shocked him even more than it did Altair. Percy was always a loner, he always thought that others would slow him down.

"Yes. I have no home or family. I would like to follow you till the death. I owe you my life Sir Perseus." Percy knew that Altair was going to be his first ever member of his group. The hunters of Archer.

"Altair from now till the day I say, you must call me Archer when we are in public. My identity is a secret. If I am to be revealed, both our lives will be in danger." Altair furrowed his eyebrows as if in confusion.

"I'm immortal Altair. Other immortal do not know about me. But if they know who I am and who I was born from, they will hunt me down. With everyone else that I care about." Altair nodded his head finally understanding what Percy was saying.

"You will become a full fledge member of my hunters, when you reach the age of sixteen. I want you to grow and become strong before I bless you with partial immortality." Altair seemed to know all about immortality. Could it be? Is he a demigod?

Altair finally spoke. "I will wait till the age of sixteen then." Altair paused before continuing. "My mom once told me that I was going to be a part of something great. I think this is what she meant." The only thing Percy could do was smirk, fate did have a weird way of bringing people together.

 **HUNTER HUNTER HUNTER HUNTER HUNTER HUNTER HUNTER**

Years passed and Altair finally reached the age of sixteen. Percy wanted Altair to be sixteen because he was going to be Percy's commander within the hunters. He also wanted him to be a little bit older. So he could have the maturity to eventually lead the younger hunters, when the time came. Altair grew into a very fine young man. His curly brown hair and blue eyes were his staple in his appearance. He was good looking and was of average height. He was slender yet packed with muscles. A very fine follower of Archer.

"Alright Altair. The time has come. Repeat after me." Altair had been waiting for this moment ever since he had met Archer. Archer was like a big brother to him. Someone who was there for him during the time of need. He will serve Archer till his death.

Percy recited the pledge and Altair spoke it, "I, Altair Moonshine, pledge myself to the Titan Perseus. I turn my back on evil and injustice, accept eternal brotherhood with my brethren, and join the hunt." Percy looked at Altair with utmost pride. His first hunter and his best.

Percy presented Altair with a silver a ring, which signified that he was the commander of the hunters. Altair was also blessed with both the crescent moon and sun markings on both of his hands. With becoming a hunter of Archer, Altair was finally blessed with partial immortality.

While more time passed, Percy's hatred for the gods grew. Natural disasters were becoming more common and it was because the gods were mad at the mortals. Demigods were left to their own devices and more often than not they ended up dead before they were fully developed.

Eventually the fall of Rome came. Western civilization began and the gods influence was starting to grow little by little in the western hemisphere. Once the Roman and Greek empires had fallen, their source of worship died with the empire as well.

Empires slowly became countries and states. War was more present than ever. People and governments fighting over territory. Ares was having a delightful time with all the carnage and death that was occurring. Percy had gathered a few more followers. By the time the United States had won their independence from Great Britain, the Hunters of Archer had five full members including Percy. Percy handpicked his hunters, he judged their character, if they had morals and if they believed in humanity or not. If the candidate had Percy's sense of justice, he was invited to be a part of the hunter's brotherhood. Only four members were worthy of Percy's blessing. No demigods were in his hunt yet. Due to his disdain of their godly parents. But that changed very quickly…

 **A/N This chapter is probably a little boring. So I apologize in advance. But I wanted to introduce the founding of Percy's hunter group. They are kind of going to be the counterpart of Artemis's hunters. Percy's group will play a major role in the Great prophecy. So Altair is Percy's first hunter and his commander. Tell me what you think of how I introduced his character. Also please tell me if I should do both Great Prophecies. Titans and Giants. Also I reopened the poll for Percy's love interest. The poll is on my profile page at the top. Since I believe there' still time for you guys to choose. Anyways review and tell me what you think.**

 **P.S Sorry for any grammatical errors.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me.**

 **Chapter 3**

The whole battlefield was filled with blood, tears, and sweat. Friends, comrades, even family were lost to such tragedy the gods failed to prevent. The sea of incessant blood that was seeping through the ground gave Mother Earth the lust and desire for more demigod blood. Perseus watched as children of the gods, both Roman and Greek, kill each other in the name of their parents. Watching from the heavens were the incapacitated gods, figuring out how to help their demigod children. The gods were splitting in half and they realized they could help neither group or they would end up betraying their children either way.

After the massacre of many demigods, the gods finally descended and decided that these two groups could no longer encounter each other. The survivors had their memories wiped and were sent back to their respective camps. The mist was manipulated to hide both camps from each other. The sad part of it all, the ones that had fallen in the civil war, were forced to be forgotten. To impede the well-earned hate, disdain and utter hatred for each other, both groups' memories of the fallen were wiped clean. In the end, the fallen would be forgotten, their cause forgotten and in the end their lives surmounting to nothing. The American Civil war was a battle between the South and the North. But it also ended up being utter bloodshed between Roman and Greek demigods.

Perseus was watching from the shadows realizing that demigods were no longer worth the disdain he was giving them. The demigods like Percy, were treated like an afterthought. Demigods were left to their own devices, if they survived great, if they didn't they wouldn't be remembered either way.

Percy fled the scene as soon as the gods descended from the heavens. For his time had not yet come to reveal himself. Percy wouldn't tell anyone, but he was afraid of the Olympians. They were obviously superior to him in power. Nonetheless, if they saw he was a threat to their reign, he would be facing twelve of them against his four hunters and himself. He wasn't going to risk the lives of his hunters either, so he fled.

Years past, after the incident of the most catastrophic war between demigods. Both camps seemed to flourish. The Romans were rebuilding what they called New Rome in San Francisco, while the Greeks were rebuilding and refortifying their home, Camp Half-Blood. Percy helped demigods reach Camp Half-Blood, realizing that only there could they be safe from outside threats. Over the years Percy's heart softened. He was ashamed for wishing ill will on demigods who were not at fault for the gods' doings.

It was a different case for the Romans however. Percy had developed a soft spot for Camp Half-Blood. Unlike the Greeks, Percy still had a heartache when he encountered a Roman demigod. In the end he would help the demigod reach his/her respective destination. But not without doubting himself. He wanted to help demigods as a whole. But the Romans had history with his parents, something he wasn't willing to forget yet.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Helping demigods became a reoccurring thing for Percy. It was added to his job description. The hunters as a whole didn't mind either, they loved helping mortals and demigods alike. Percy did his traditional hunt of monsters to make it somewhat safer in the world.

A century had passed and Percy's hunters grew in size. From just four members from their foundation to about a fifty strong by the end of the twentieth century. But his duty wasn't always happiness and success.

 _Flashback_

 _It wasn't too long ago, Percy had heard from his hunters that a group of rogue cyclops were lumbering around the area of New York. There was another report that there was a trio of demigods and a satyr trying to reach Camp Half-Blood._

 _Perseus knew that one of the demigods had to be extremely powerful. The cyclops had caught onto them, they followed them across the states hoping to find their next demigod meal. Since Percy was in the vicinity, he gathered a few hunters to follow him and safely escort them into camp._

 _However, the demigods were wary of Percy and didn't trust him or his hunters. Percy tried and tried again to convince them that he was there to help them. They refused his help and kept going, but Percy was kind enough to at least point them to the direction of Camp Half-Blood. Percy couldn't blame them for not trusting a stranger who was keeping his identity from them, it showed a lack of trust._

 _Feeling the sense of duty, Percy with his hunters followed the young demigods along the journey. He followed to ensure they didn't get sidetracked by a random monster. Any monster who did come within the vicinity was immediately dispatched. They of course let at least one of the monsters reach the demigods. So they didn't let their guard down. But most importantly so they didn't feel a sense of false safety._

 _However, Percy and his hunters made a fatal mistake. Most of the monsters were a diversion. The cyclops had been progressively getting closer and closer without Percy noticing. The satyr also couldn't smell them because different monster scents blended in with each other. So he missed scent of the cyclops. They were ambushed and forced to retreat. Some of his hunters were seriously wounded but none of them died._

 _The cyclops got to the three demigods and soon enough all Percy heard was screaming. He heard one yell from the male demigod._

" _Thalia let's go we can make it! It's just over this hill we are on." Percy could tell it was from straight ahead. He thought he could make it to them in time and save them._

" _Just go! I'll hold them off. I'll be right be behind you Luke." Percy knew by the tone of her voice she was lying. Her voice was wavering, almost as if she was going to cry. She wasn't going to be right behind the other demigods, she was going to sacrifice herself._

 _As Percy neared the hill they were on. He realized he was too late. The one he presumed to be named Thalia, was laying at the feet of a cyclops. She looked severely injured. Before Percy could react, a lightning bolt was struck from the sky which hit both Thalia and the surrounding cyclops._

 _When the smoke and his vision returned, he realized a tree had sprouted from oblivion. Surrounding the tree were piles of gold dust from the destroyed cyclops. Percy knew where that lightning bolt came from. He looked for Thalia through the mess and destroyed terrain. But alas he couldn't find her._

 _He looked up into the heavens and said, "You couldn't even save your own daughter Zeus."_

Present

That happened five years ago. It still haunted him that he couldn't save the demigod. It was a mistake that he learned from. Percy during that time span after Thalia's presumed death, he would constantly have nightmares. Percy would lose his confidence temporarily, it felt like that time. He felt the same way when his parents faded, the way he did about Thalia. He was at the mercy of not being able to do anything. He felt useless and weak.

The two other demigods and satyr apparently made it safe and sound into the camp. But they had left behind a friend. Someone that was emotionally attached to them. Knowing that they were mortals, they valued friendship. It was as if the daughter of Zeus was a part of them, similar to Percy and his faded parents.

Percy was broken out of his self-pity. "Archer, we are ready to move out. We still have to find out where the Minotaur is headed off to. We have reports that he's still in New York City."

"Understood. Only Altair and I will go hunting for the monster. He can't be too hard to find can he?" Lysander my third in command looked at me and shrugged.

Lysander was the second hunter recruited. He was a runaway slave from the Roman Empire. He had endured harsh treatment, he was beat and starved almost every other day. Percy immediately gave him refuge with Altair and himself. Going through all the torture and violence he had endured, Lysander was still extremely kind. But he did have a grudge against women. He was sexual abused by his female owner, so he was very distrustful of females in general.

"He has eluded us various times. Even though he's such an immense creature, he seems rather stealthy." Lysander responded.

"Alright do you know where Altair has gone off to?" Lysander pondered Percy's question. Earlier that day, Altair had told Lysander that there was a demigod sighting in New York City, specifically Manhattan. It was the first demigod sighting since the tragic incident from five years ago.

"He said he was going to do some reconnaissance on a presumed demigod." Lysander decided not to elaborate. Every time someone brought the word 'demigod' into a conversation, Percy would turn distant.

"Understood. I will look for him." Percy had no idea where to begin looking for Altair. He was a stealthy spy when needed. To track Altair down was nearly impossible.

"He said he was going to lurk around Manhattan, supposedly near a so called 'Queensboro Bridge'. So I would begin looking around that area." Percy knew New York City like his markings all over his hands and arms. He knew where exactly where the Queensboro Bridge was located.

New York had been his base of operations for the most part. He strayed away from the city as much as possible. He always felt comfort setting up camp in the wilderness rather than a crowded city.

Percy went to his tent to get his necessary items in case he ran into trouble. When he got to his tent he grabbed his twin double edged short swords. Unlike regular swords, his were made of pure silver. Deadly to humans, monsters, and immortals alike. He fought untraditionally, he fought with dual weapons, like a gladiator.

He sheathed them and proceeded to strap them across his back. He looked under his cot and was debating whether he should take his bow. He had resorted to calling it Midnight. Carrying Midnight around would look to noticeable to non-mortal eyes. So he decided to leave it. He grabbed a bag full of food and ambrosia, in case he found that Altair was injured or in any danger.

He finally finished getting all his items ready and slung on his cloak to cover his identity. He made his way out of the hunter's camp and headed towards the city.

 **Page Break**

Altair had been trailing the boy for half of the day already. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. However, Altair noticed that his presumed 'parents' looked absolutely nothing like him. The boy that he was trailing was rather short and only about twelve years old. The boy had blonde hair and sea-green eyes. His skin was deathly pale, as if the sun rays had no effect on his complexion.

None of his parents had blonde hair or green eyes. The parents were rather pale and short which were the only characteristics they had in common. Now Altair knew that these had to be either foster or adoptive parents. The boy wasn't emitting a strong presence. But he still knew he was a demigod. Altair had no idea who the godly parent of this demigod could be, he was at a loss.

Altair was packed with Ambrosia and food because he was planning on further spectating the child. He wanted to see if he revealed any of his powers accidentally. The boy lived on the third floor of an apartment building. The window by the fire escape was clearly visible. Altair deciding not to lose sight of the boy, climbed up one of the trees in the nearby park and pulled his binoculars out.

He stared through them and still nothing out of the ordinary. It stayed that way until night fall.

Altair saw a shadow coming from an alleyway from the corner of his eye. It was a bigger shadow, bigger than an ordinary man. The shadow slowly came out of the alleyway and was heading directly towards the apartment. The one Altair was so busily spying on. The creature revealed itself. It had the head and tail of a bull and the body of a human. It was wearing just its undergarments.

Altair would've laughed if it weren't for the severity of the situation. It was now confirmed that this boy had an immortal parent. Before Altair could react, he heard two swords unsheathe themselves and noticed a dark hooded figure emerge from the darkness and head straight for the monster.

He decided this was the distraction he needed to get the boy out of harm's way. Altair jumped down from the tree he was perched on and sprinted into the direction of the apartment. On the way there he heard metal clashing with one another. All he hoped for was that Percy could quickly dispatch the monster.

He ran up the steps of the fire escape hoping it wouldn't collapse on him. He was sprinting so fast he ran an extra floor on accident. He quickly made his way back down the fire escape and to the correct window and slowly slid it open. He crawled in and realized that the boy and his mortal guardians were still wide awake, with shocked expression on their faces.

"Who the hell are you? You better get out of here before I call the police." The male parent said as he made his way to the phone. The boy and his other parent looked afraid that Altair was a threat to them.

In hindsight he did look threatening. He was wearing a black cloak that covered his whole body and face. He was carrying a bag and a bow slung over his shoulder. In summary, he looked like a burglar. But he could tell that the boy could see right through the mist and see his weapons.

"Pardon for the intrusion but I must take the child out of here. He is in grave danger." The mother wasn't having any of it. She protectively put her son behind her.

Altair didn't notice the father's face as it changed. As if remembering something told to him long ago.

"Please forgive me. But I need to take him." Altair took a step in their direction and the father put his hand up in a 'stop' motion.

"Please understand that your child will be safe. But he is no longer safe with you. If he stays, he will also be putting your lives in danger. I will take him somewhere safe. Once that has happened, I will come back to further explain the dilemma that is present at hand." The mother and father looked defeated. They made no threatening moves towards Altair.

"So you're the one Mr. Brunner spoke about? He said someone will come to pick him up, when the time is right" Altair stood their pondering. Could it be that Chiron filled these mortals in on the boy's heritage? It isn't out of the realm of possibility, since Altair himself has spied on Chiron when he ventured into the mortal world.

Of course Altair didn't know Chiron as an individual. Heck, Chiron doesn't even know the Hunters of Archer exist. But Perseus had told Altair to keep tabs on Camp Half- Blood and Chiron. So he followed his leader's request.

Perseus knew about Chiron because his mother Selene had told him that he had trained the hero Achilles. Percy witnessed how proficient and dangerous Achilles was with every type of weapon. He realized that Chiron was a good and patient teacher. However, Percy hadn't met or even spoken to Chiron before. He also wasn't going to cross the barrier to say a casual "Greetings" either. It was best to stay secretive. But today things might change that.

"Please protect him. He is a good kid. And I take up on your word that you will return to inform us on how is he doing?" The mother said rather sadly. Altair just nodded.

He motioned for the boy to go through the fire escape and he obliged, Altair followed.

"Let me go. I want to go back home." The boy yelled at him. He had resorted to grabbing the boy's arm so he wouldn't run away. He had tried multiple times but Altair had an iron grip on his shirt.

"Listen child I'm doing you a favor. I'm trying to protect you. Monsters are after you." The boy looked at Altair like he was insane. In reality, it did sound farfetched. Monsters didn't exist did they?

"You're crazy. Let me go back to my parents please. I didn't do anything. Why are you taking me away from them?" Altair shook his head and kept walking. This boy did not understand yet, that he was born into a separate world from the mortals. He could perhaps linger with mortals for some time. But not to long for he could risk their lives. It wasn't his fault that his godly parent decided to seduce his or her lover. He was born because the gods have absolutely no other needs from mortals except to satisfy their lustful desires. The only reason they had still not faded was because they sired so many demigods who still believed in them.

Perseus approached them out of the shadows. The boy jumped as if now realizing that Percy came out of the darkness. "The Minotaur escaped. He realized the boy was being taken so he wasn't going to risk his worthless life. I also didn't trail him because I wanted to make sure the boy got to our camp safe."

"You severely underestimate me Archer. It really wounds me that you think I cannot handle myself." Altair feigned he was hurt. But he knew that Perseus was extremely overprotective of his hunters.

"Still very overdramatic I see. You spent a plethora of time listening to Shakespeare when he was still living. Anyhow let us proceed to leave this child at camp." Perseus realized that if Altair wasn't spying on the demigod, he could've been another demigod he couldn't save. Another person's blood on his hands because he wasn't good enough to save them in the first place.

"What is your name child?" The boy analyzed both Altair and Perseus from head to toe. Even though Altair and Percy still had their cloaks on, they felt he could see right through them and see their true identity.

"Don't call me a child. You can't be that older than me. My name is Ridley and I would appreciate it if you call me that instead of 'child'. Thank you very much." For such a young kid he had some serious spunk. He wasn't afraid to talk big to anyone.

"Understood. Ridley we are going to take you to safety. Do you faith that we can protect you?" Altair said. The response he received wasn't the one he expected.

"No. I can protect myself, I don't need you to look after me. I'm not a little kid you know."

 **A/N Apologies in advance for the short chapter. I kind of had to hurry this one up because I started classes today and they already assigned me so much and it is only the first day. Also I apologize for any of the grammar mistakes and of course for the boring chapter. But Ridley is going to cause problems not only for Percy but for everyone as well. Does anyone know who his parent is? Guess.**

 **P.S I also apologize if the story is moving slow. But starting next chapter I hope I can now dive into the next portion. Which of course is the disappearance of the mighty Zeus's Master bolt. Who's going to get blamed?**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me.**

 **Chapter 4**

The journey back to the hunter's camp was arduous and tedious. It wasn't so much the fact that it was a long journey, but when you have a child that was very energetic and that wouldn't close his mouth, you begin to rethink things. Ridley the newfound demigod, kept asking Altair questions and would continue pestering Percy about the new world he belonged to.

"So my parent is a god?" Ridley asked rather unbelievingly.

"For the hundredth time, yes you are a child of a god. I know it is hard to believe. But the life of a demigod isn't a happy one. The life you will live is full of hardships, death, and of course unappreciative parents" Ridley seemed to deflate at the mention of hardships.

"Well do you know who my parent is? I never knew my mother nor my father. So it could be either." Ridley not too long ago was desperately trying to go back to his adoptive parents. But he started to simmer down when he realized neither Percy nor Altair were threatening him.

"Silence child you speak too much. You will learn more when we take you to the camp you truly belong to." The walk to the hunter's camp was silent after that.

Percy and crew had to navigate through the city during the nightfall. New York City was the city that never slept. Seeing crowds of people was a common sight. People walked and walked, so they blended in with the crowd to continue to their respective destination. They ran into some sketchy people along the way, but one good look into Percy's eyes made them rethink on what they were trying to do.

Soon enough, they had walked through the city and were heading into the wilderness near the Hudson River. Navigating through the night was easy for Percy. Since his mother was the Titaness of the moon he apparently had inherited some sort of night vision which didn't hinder his vision in the darkness. Altair was trained by Percy to be able to navigate in utter darkness and to use his other senses to decipher his surroundings. Ridley however, was very clumsy. Ridley was hindered by the utter darkness and would continuously run into trees and trip over branches and rocks.

"Ow" Was all that was heard over the silent noise in the wilderness. Percy turned to look what the noise was and sure enough it was Ridley sprawled over the floor.

"You are a clumsy child. You will learn how to be alert when you train with your teacher." Percy kept walking towards camp while Altair helped Ridley back onto his feet.

Altair took a coil of rope he had packed into his bag and quickly tied a knot around Ridley's waist. He then proceeded to tie the other end of the rope around his torso.

"Perhaps this way you don't fall or run into anything concrete." Altair couldn't see Ridley's reaction but he was rather annoyed that they were teasing him for his inability to navigate through the darkness.

Altair made his way through the walkways of the woods and forest. He felt the weight on the other end of the rope as he was guiding Ridley through the darkness. It took some time but they had finally made it to camp. Percy had arrived to camp first. He awaited for Altair and Ridley at the entrance of his camp. Percy once again took in the look of his camp that several centuries ago hadn't existed. Much less, it had never occurred to him that it could be a thought that would become a reality.

Surrounding him were torches that created light to their circular structured camp. Brown camouflaged tents were neatly arranged around the border of the clearing. He saw his hunters come in and out of their tents wearing their olive green colored cloaks that hid their faces. He saw the scouts perched up on trees on lookout duty. Ready in case of any impending monster attacks. In the center of the circular clearing was their bonfire that glimmered bright with rare white flames. It gave a black and white outlook around the camp but the fire gave them reassurance, that they were safe.

"Wow. This looks amazing" Percy was broken out of his admiration for what he had created, by someone behind him. When he turned around he realized it was Altair and the new demigod.

"Welcome to our base of operations. Normally we are on the move. However, New York has become our temporary location for the past century. Once again I welcome you to Archer's Point." Altair said as if he practiced those lines so many times.

In hindsight, he did. Altair would constantly repeat those practiced words whenever a hunter was recruited within their ranks. Ridley would've made a fine recruit but both Percy and Altair knew that this boy was out of their hands. He was a part of something greater.

"This is awesome. Do I get to become one of you guys? Or is this something exclusive?" Altair took a look at Percy's face and understood immediately. He was needed elsewhere. Probably to roast the meat they had caught earlier that day.

"Follow me young Ridley. We have much to speak about." Percy turned towards the direction of his tent. He didn't bother looking back to see if Ridley was following him. He focused his concentration to his other senses and he could feel the vibrations of Ridley walking behind him.

He neared his tent that was no different from his hunters. He quickly tossed aside the covers that covered the tent. Ridley closely followed behind him. There was a mutual silence between the two, as if they both knew something serious was going to be addressed.

Ridley proceeded to take a seat on a small wooden stool. Percy had handcrafted the stool years ago during his free time. Percy quickly swiped his cloak away finally revealing his face and his full body.

Ridley took note of Percy's appearance. In a startling realization, he saw that Percy's eyes were a sparkling unnatural silver color. His eyes had no emotions in them, it felt like he was staring straight into nothingness. Percy's height was above average. He was tall, but not statue tall. Nobody knew but he could change his height at will, but he felt the most comfortable at his current height. He never changed his height ever during his lifetime, he just knew he could.

Ridley continued to Percy's build. He had a slender frame with a bit of muscle added on to it. He looked strong even though he wasn't bulky. But that's not what caught Ridley's attention. Ridley looked directly at Percy's arms and hands as he saw the markings on his skin. They were perfect in the way that they fit in harmony with each other. No marking looked out of place and it was just aesthetic in nature.

Percy could feel Ridley's eyes on him. He was never uncomfortable with himself, but he had a feeling that Ridley was scrutinizing his markings. "Staring is impolite. I suggest you say something if anything is bothering you."

"Oh no. It just the markings look amazing. Where did you get them?" Percy visually tensed. Ridley was starting to regret asking the question. But a few seconds later Percy deflated and relaxed.

"They were bestowed onto me by my loved ones. Before they faded into oblivion." Ridley didn't understand what Archer meant when he referred to his loved ones fading.

"What do you mean fading? Where did they go?" Percy eyes darkened a bit. They were no longer sparkling, they were absent of any shine or happiness, it was just utter darkness.

"That is something that I have no knowledge of. Even for someone as old as I, I have no comprehension of where they went." Percy was trembling, but not out of sadness or fear. It was anger.

"Okay. Well what do your markings symbolize?" Percy was still lost in his own thoughts.

He lifted up his right arm. "These markings on my right hand and arms are the stars in the universe and the crescent moon. They were bestowed onto me by my mother Selene, Titaness of the moon. She was the personification of the moon." Percy was surprised how easily his words came out his mouth. He felt that Ridley was someone he could trust.

Percy lifted his left arm. "These markings on my left hand and arms are the sun and eyes bestowed onto me by my adoptive father Helios, titan of the sun. Some say that he was all seeing, hence why I have eye markings." Ridley seemed fascinated by Percy's story.

"But enough of myself. You are the one we need to speak about." Ridley was shaken out of his admiration for Percy immediately.

"Why me? I'm just a demigod. I'm not important." Percy shook his head, poor boy.

"You my dear demigod are more important than you think. You will play a crucial role in the great prophecy. You were chosen by the fates like myself to turn the tide in the upcoming war. My role is great in this prophecy but your role is greater than mine. That is why you must reach Camp Half-Blood, not only to survive but to learn how to protect yourself and fight for your cause." Percy's revelation hit Ridley like Greek fire exploding in the tent. He was speechless.

"How? I just learned about this world. To tell you the truth I don't even believe in it. How can I be important?" Ridley was still young and naïve. He still did not understand the severity or destruction he could cause if he isn't lead onto the right path.

"Those questions are not for me to answer. Tomorrow when we take you to your camp everything will be explained. Now rest young one you have a long and treacherous journey ahead of you." Ridley's eyelids felt heavy. Percy was amazed how determined he was to stay awake.

"What is your real name? I know Archer is a code name." Percy frowned. He was debating whether to tell him or not. In the end he decided to reveal his name.

"My name is Perseus. It is time for me to finally reveal who I am. I will do so when we arrive to your camp." Ridley nodded. His eyelids were already closed. He succumbed into his sleep.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Grover frantically roamed through the City of New York. He was nearing the Queensboro Bridge where Chiron had told him the demigod would be located. Chiron sensed something terribly wrong was going to transpire. So he sent Grover in fast haste to retrieve the young demigod named Ridley.

It was late at night and he was afraid he would get ambushed by a group of monsters trying to find the boy. Grover didn't believe in himself ever since that incident some years ago. He was more timid now and definitely more afraid of the world. But this was his job and he had a duty to complete.

Thankfully he didn't run into any monsters. But he slowly started to realize the chaos that was apparent on the street the demigod lived on. Cars were tossed aside, the sidewalk and the concrete street was cracked as if something had physically cracked it. Grover sniffed the air and noticed a monster scent. It was strong, it was here not too long ago. Maybe an hour or two ago.

He quickly approached the apartment complex where the demigod lived and knocked on the apartment door. He heard footsteps from behind the door and then the door opened. Standing at the doorway was a short and pale man. His hair was gray and he had brown eyes.

"Umm sir how can I help you?" He said rather sleepily.

"I've come to pick up Ridley on behalf of Mr. Brunner. We feel he isn't safe anymore." That seemed to wake up the pale man immediately.

"What?! Someone picked him up about two hours ago saying they were taking him somewhere safe. I thought they were sent by Mr. Brunner. So I let them take Ridley." Grover felt his heart sink. Could it be that a monster took Ridley captive and devoured him already?

"What did they look like? The person who took Ridley?" The man began pondering, trying to get all the details from the back of his brain.

"Well the person sounded rather young. He had a deep voice but I felt his voice hadn't matured fully yet. He was wearing a dark cloak. That's all I can really tell you. The cloak covered his physical features." Grover stomped his hooves on the carpeted hallway. He was too late.

To make sure the adoptive parents wouldn't panic, Grover came up with a lie. "Okay that means one of our other campers came to get him. Sorry for the disturbance sir." Grover was turning away before the man spoke.

"Ridley is safe right?" Grover turned back to the man.

"Of course he is. He's in safe hands." Grover said as he gave a fake smile.

The man smiled back and closed the door right as Grover turned around and began sprinting out of the apartment. He was too late. He needed to advise Chiron immediately. Maybe they can still find him. Maybe Chiron could send a search party and hopefully find him safe and alive. Grover quickly journeyed back to Camp Half-Blood.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Morning had finally come and Ridley awoke. He realized Perseus was not in his tent. At first he began thinking that what happened the previous night was all a surreal dream. But that thought quickly faded away when he realized he wasn't in his room or in his apartment. Ridley could smell an aroma of food being cooked. He quickly got out of his cot and went outside of the tent.

Ridley once again admired the base of operations Perseus had created. It looked like a safe haven for young males. Various males roamed around the camp. Their ages varied from twelve to about eighteen. Nobody seemed to pay attention to him as if his appearance was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Come Ridley we must eat. Then we must be off on our journey towards Camp Half-Blood." Everyone gathered around the tables that seemed to appear out of thin air. The food that was set upon the table was scrambled eggs with some bacon. Everyone seemed to have an appetite as they ate their food in record time.

Ridley then followed Perseus back to his tent. He tossed Ridley a blue tunic so he could put on. He then threw him a pair of black pants with some hiking boots. It was time for them to set off on their journey. He could tell from Percy's eyes that this was probably the last time they would see each other, before the great prophecy begins.

"We must go now. We must travel there during the day so we do not look like enemies. You will pass through the camp's barrier easily, however we cannot. Once you are inside you must formally invite us in. That way we can proceed through the barrier. It is time for me to finally speak to Chiron." Percy tossed Ridley a canteen of water and a backpack stuffed with some food and a small golden dagger.

Only Perseus, Ridley, and Altair were the ones to set off onto the journey

 **PAGE BREAK**

Grover had gotten side tracked a few times on his way back to camp. He had stopped to grab some enchiladas that were on sale. It was an opportunity he couldn't possibly pass up. He made his way through the forest before reaching the clearing on Half Blood-Hill. He quickly sprinted and jumped over rocks that were in his path as he crossed the barrier.

It was still early in the morning. The sun was still rising. So when he crossed the barrier he was lucky not to be shot or decapitated by the demigods on lookout duty. Grover quickly made his way to the Big House where Chiron spent most of his time in.

As soon as he crossed the door he realized that Chiron wasn't alone. Annabeth, a demigod he had saved, was there conversing with the centaur. They seemed to be in a mini argument. From what Grover could tell it was definitely a grave matter.

"Don't you understand Annabeth? Someone stole something from Zeus. He obviously is going to blame his brothers because he's paranoid of being overthrown." Chiron looked older than he had the previous day. As if the weight of the world had been put onto his shoulders.

"But how? Everyone knows another immortal can't steal a symbol of power from one another. Which means it had to a demigod." Annabeth was beginning to figure out what was going on.

"Yes child. Which means the demigods at Camp Half-Blood are at risk. Zeus won't stop until he regains what he lost. You can already sense the storm that is brewing. But without lightning. Which means what he lost was his master bolt. If it were to fall into enemy hands, the gods would certainly be in trouble." Chiron finally realized that Grover was standing at the doorway eavesdropping on the conversation. Annabeth saw the centaur's line of sight and followed them to Grover.

Chiron stared at Grover waiting for him to talk. Grover shook his head slowly. "Someone got to him before I did. The parents said the one who took Ridley was a hooded figure. He was wearing a dark cloak. I've never heard of anything like it. Have you Chiron?" Chiron began to ponder. He went to a specific memory from years ago. He remembered Annabeth had told him about the hooded figures that helped them get to camp. Could they possibly be the same people?

Before Chiron could say anything, Luke frantically opened the door. "A new demigod has crossed through the barrier into our camp. But he's accompanied by two people in dark cloaks. What should we do?" So they were the same people from all those years ago.

"Tell everyone to get into defensive positions. We don't know if they're enemies. But do not fire or engage unless we know they are confirmed enemies." Chiron motioned for both Grover and Annabeth to go into the armory to prepare themselves.

As Grover walked out of the Big House he could see three figures from the distance. They were too far away to describe any physical features. One thing was for sure, he could see that two of them were wearing dark cloaks. They looked formidable…

 **A/N Sorry for the short chapter. But it's the only thing I could come up with right now. Assignments have been piling up and they are kicking my butt right now. So apologies in advance for the short chapter. I kind of hurried the timeline because I felt it was going a little bit too slow. By the next chapter the quest to retrieve the master bolt will be given. The beginning of the quest will also take place next chapter. The capture the flag game will be short because I want to get the lightning bolt quest in as fast as possible. Remember to review so I can hear some of your ideas and possibly implement them into my story. Last thing, please be kind and review of what you think of the chapter. It may take longer for me to update so please bear with me.**

 **P.S Sorry for the grammar mistakes. Also tell me if you want Altair to participate in the capture the flag game. If I see that many of you want him to participate I will include him as well. Also vote for Percy's love interest by the next update the poll will be closed.**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me.**

 **Chapter 5**

"He's the one. He has to be" Annabeth stared at the trio approaching them. Everyone had gathered into a defensive formation in case of an impending attack. They weren't organized when it came to a battle, but Annabeth had come up with a simple solution and everyone followed her instructions.

"You can't keep saying that when a new demigod arrives to camp. Or in this case a trio of potential demigods?" Luke said. He was at the head of the crowd and everyone else was awaiting his signal to attack.

Chiron trotted back and forth nervously. When Chiron has no prior knowledge of anything, he gets very anxious. "This is very strange. They are taking their time to reach us. They have already spotted us, why haven't they given a signal or anything for that matter." Chiron continued to pace around talking to himself of potential scenarios that could happen in this situation.

Percy, Altair, and Ridley took their sweet time to reach the crowd of demigods. Percy and Altair were a bit anxious and nervous. This was the first time they had crossed into Camp Half-Blood. They didn't know how the demigods would react to trespassing outsiders. Ridley was the only one that seemed to be intrigued by his surroundings, he was eager to reach the crowd and they finally did.

"What is your business here? You aren't a threat to us, are you?" Luke hoisted his sword up. He was ready for anything, he was expecting them to attack the camp.

Neither Percy or Altair looked unsettled with a sword being steadily fixed in their faces. "This is how you conduct diplomacy? Such a bellicose method to welcome guests." Percy was already losing his patience. He had brought a demigod to camp unscathed, yet they were treating him like an enemy.

"We don't know you. For all we know you could be a potential enemy." Luke was getting dangerously close to Altair. One more step and Altair would have to make a move and disarm him.

"Luke lower your sword. If they were enemies, they would've attacked us already." Chiron interceded. He trotted up to the front and towered over everyone, even the hooded figures.

"My name is Chiron. I'm the teacher for these young demigods. I see you have brought one of the demigods we have already discovered. We appreciate that you brought him to this safe haven. But that doesn't explain who you are. Everyone would be at ease if you would reveal yourselves." Ridley's face was bare, so everyone already knew how he looked. Altair and Percy were still hidden under their hoods. Every demigod sensed that these two were dangerous. The suspense of not knowing their identities was killing them.

"I insist we conduct this gathering in private. Choose the demigods you wish to attend. Everyone else should wait patiently." The crowd gasped. Some of the demigods were disappointed that they may or may not be able to listen to the meeting.

"Halt! You cannot just come into our territory and intimidate us into a meeting." Luke was pointing his sword directly underneath Percy's throat. The air surrounding the strangers began to thicken. It was getting extremely humid; some demigods began sweating.

"I'm not trying to intimidate anyone. I just want to speak of something that is detrimental to your camp 's safety. As some of you may know something is wrong up on Olympus. I just want to speak, if you listen to me and still do not want my guidance then I will leave. But not until I am heard." Demigods began looking at one another. Wondering who would speak up.

"Very well. Grover, Annabeth, and Head counselors follow me. We must meet at the Big House for a Senior Counsel with these strangers." The head counselors along with Grover and Annabeth trailed Chiron as they headed to what Percy presumed was the Big House.

Percy, Altair and Ridley followed the group of Demigods and their teacher. He wouldn't tell anyone, but Percy had a bad feeling about Luke. There was something fundamentally wrong with him. The way he changed emotions with ease made him believe that Luke lied easily. He could lie in his sleep. Luke was someone to keep a close eye on. He worked his charms on everyone.

Although the situation deescalated everyone was still on high alert. The walk was silent until they entered the Big House. Percy was unimpressed with the setup they had. The meeting was taking place in a playhouse for children. Chairs were surrounding a table that had a net directly in the center. Percy had no idea what type of sorcery was directly in front of him.

"Proceed strangers. You ordered us to an unwanted meeting. You shall lead the meeting." Percy hadn't noticed, but Chiron had retreated into a wheelchair. Which made him looked disabled. The best art of deception.

With one swift movement Percy slung his cloak to the side to reveal his identity. Altair followed his example. The demigods didn't look surprised. They looked like they were expecting someone else. Which made sense to Percy, since no one knew he or his hunters existed.

"Apologies if you were expecting someone else. Let me introduce myself. You shall call me Archer, now that is not my true name. I still don't trust you enough to reveal my name. You might betray me to your degenerate parents." Outbursts ensued.

"How dare you insult the gods in such a manner. They aren't the best parents, but they still are our parents. They are to be respected." Annabeth immediately responded which silenced the rest of the demigods.

"Silence child! You do not know how they function. You are still too naïve to understand the full extent of their actions. I've watched them for a long time. Do not talk to me about respect when you do not know the full details daughter of Athena." Annabeth had a face of shock. How could this stranger know who her mother was?

"Oh yes I know every single one of you. I've been watching this camp for centuries without detection." Percy turned to Chiron. "I also witnessed with my own eyes the rise and downfall of your pupil, the great hero Achilles."

Laughter was heard from the other end of the table. Of course. It was Luke, the scar running down his face made him all the more terrifying. "You talk as if you were physically there. You can't be older than I am." Luke continued on with his triumphant smirk.

Percy reached down to his lower calf as he unsheathed a small silver dagger. Every demigod including Chiron backed up and reached for their weapons. It was a standoff and no one moved.

The dagger that was in Percy's right hand inched closer to his left palm. All around everyone began to frown. Finally, the dagger touched Percy's skin. It felt cold to the touch and in a swift movement the blade cut his skin.

Golden ichor trickled from the small wound. Luke's smirk was wiped off his face. Annabeth's stormy gray eyes looked conflicted. She was trying to work out the problem that was in front of her. Grover looked sick to the stomach as if the golden liquid made him queasy. Chiron on the other hand looked like his suspicions were proven correctly.

"I'm immortal. I'm not trying to threaten you. Believe me my intentions are pure. I'm trying to lookout for you. I realize you will never betray your parents. I am not asking you to do so. I am also aware that the gods aren't the greatest parents. My quarrel isn't with you, it's with gods. But that doesn't mean I want your downfall. At one point I did. But I've realized my errors and it was foolish of me to plead for your downfall, when you are not the one's at fault." Altair noticed that Luke was getting worked up when Percy was talking about the gods being useless to a fault and Luke believed every bit of it.

"Are you an unknown minor god? I've never seen or even heard of you?" Annabeth was the one to raise the question.

"Quite frankly, my heritage is none of your concern. That is only known by Ridley and my hunters. Ridley has already sworn to never reveal anything about me, unless I advise him to." Ridley was an afterthought. The demigod's eyes were boring into his soul. Ridley wasn't used to the attention. He wasn't really good with crowds. So, he waved awkwardly to everyone surrounding the ping-pong table.

"I'm rambling on. Back to the task at hand. Olympus is going to go to war if Zeus's master bolt isn't returned. The sea and the sky seemed to be at war. The undead and shadows are restless, they are perturbed. Which means the elder brothers are accusing each other. A demigod or monster stole the bolt, as you may know gods cannot steal symbols of power from one another. You will need to fix this. That is why I have come. I can give you information and assist you with tracking it down. I personally will not be on this quest. I don't believe Olympus's political matters concern me, however, if the gods go to war the world we live in won't exist anymore. So, it is up to you to decide." Percy finished his speech. He's always believed that he wasn't a good speaker. But he had to be doing something correctly if his hunters followed him.

The demigods were speaking in hushed tones. Percy couldn't help but smile, his heightened senses made him hear every word that was coming out of their mouths. He looked towards Luke's direction and realized he was the only demigod not involved in the group discussion. Luke had a carefree facial expression. His demeanor made it seem he didn't care for the world's destruction. He was fiddling with his sword, cleaning it with a napkin he found on a nearby coffee table.

Percy noticed from the corner of his eye that Altair was staring at Luke distastefully. He had caught on to Luke. But they weren't the only one's directly staring at Luke. All the females including twelve-year-old Annabeth were stealing glances at their 'superhero' which was Luke.

"We've accepted your offer. On the condition that you allow for your friend there to help us on our journey." The demigods pointed towards Altair. Altair wasn't pleased that he was the one being singled out. In fact, he wasn't too keen on babysitting demigods on a quest. He had much better things to do.

"Condition accepted. Altair will help guide you to the master bolt. But you will still take your traditional trio of demigods to embark on this quest." Everyone nodded. Chiron also gave in to Percy's request, he didn't see anything wrong with creating new allies.

"Alright we must set off now. Ridley you stay here. This is where you belong. I know you will be great. I have a feeling you'll prove your worth soon enough." Percy heard someone cough mockingly as if that couldn't be possible.

"Him? He looks like he's confused half the time. No way he's going to be great." Ridley began to frown. He stared pointedly at the prideful daughter of Athena making that remark.

"Excuse me? I'll prove you wrong. I'm going to be a strong demigod. Maybe not the best but still a worthy demigod." Annabeth nodded unimpressed.

"Come on Annabeth don't be so tough on Ridley. He's going to be important at camp. I know so, after all I might take him under my wing." Annabeth and the other female counselors began to swoon. Altair shook his head. Basically, stating that Luke was an idiot.

"My work here is done. I must return to where I belong." But before Percy could leave Chiron spoke up.

"Archer do not leave just yet. Tonight, we have our weekly Capture the Flag game. I would like for you to analyze and witness our demigod's potential. Since you are immortal I advise you not participate. But your friend Altair on the other hand can participate if he likes." Percy was going to decline because he had better things to do than watch demigods play fight. But Altair interceded as he wrapped his arm around Percy's shoulder.

"It would be our honor to attend and participate in such event." Percy gave a confused look to Altair. But he just smiled. Through his teeth Altair barely whispered, "You volunteered me for the quest, so this is retribution." They both began to laugh.

Nightfall came, and the game was going to finally commence. The Aphrodite Cabin was in charge of making sure all the leather chest plates and helmets were properly fastened. They were supposed to compete in the Capture the Flag game, but they stated it was too much work and it could ruin their clothes.

"Everyone attention!" Chiron's resounding voice could be heard from miles away.

"Today we have two new participants who will be engaging in their first ever Capture the Flag Game. Altair and Ridley" The demigods clapped half-heartedly. They just wanted the game to begin.

"Altair and Ridley are available for selection. Which captains vouches for them to be on their squad." A big burly girl with pale brown stringy hair raised her hand. Percy was surprised by the shear muscle and size of the girl. She could squash any smaller demigod in a heartbeat.

"Alright Clarisse you have accepted both these candidates into your squad. Now plan your battle strategy. The game begins in thirty minutes. Remember I will be the medic for this game. The rules are as follows: No killing or maiming. The creek is the boundary line for the game. All magical items are permitted. The forest is fair play. Now go!" Chiron trotted off to prepare his medical supplies, grabbing nectar and ambrosia as the primary medical needs.

 **Page BREAK**

Altair followed the captain of the red team which was revealed to be Clarisse. Ridley followed closely behind Altair. Ridley hadn't made any friends as of yet. He was insanely awkward when the other demigods tried to talk to him. They had given him a generic bronze sword that was a bit heavy in his hand. But he believed he was going to get used to it.

Altair on the other hand was using his signature two handed golden gladius. Other demigods looked at his weapon strangely, as if they had never seen a golden sword before. He believed that if he used his bow, it wouldn't be fair to anyone. Especially his team who wanted to have fun.

"Okay so this is the plan. We'll dedicate most of our team on defense while we send the quicker more agile campers to try and retrieve the flag." Ridley and Altair both nodded. They agreed that it sounded like a reasonable strategy.

However, Ridley was put on the retrieving team. Ridley was short and moderately scrawny. He had some muscle here and there, but it was invisible to the eye unless you really tried to find it. Altair was put on guard duty, he was on the last line of defense. He didn't really mind since he believed the game was going to be extremely boring. But he was wrong.

A distant horn was heard in the distance which signified the commencement of the Capture the Flag game. The surrounding demigods roared in approval and excitement. Not soon thereafter the blue team was spotted.

Ridley was the first one to spot them. His bronze sword was weighing him down. He was dragging the sword on the ground making plenty of noise. He didn't know how to properly wield the weapon. All he was hoping for, was to last as long as he could without being decapitated or seriously injured.

He and the rest of the team were nearing the lake. He heard the battle cries of the enemy team as they began attacking his team. He heard swords clashing and bodies slumping onto the ground. They were getting overwhelmed. The blue team had practically sent their whole group to retrieve his team's flag. So far, his team was getting tossed aside and hammered to the ground. Luckily for him no one had confronted him yet.

Well that was what he was hoping for. He heard a battle cry and an immense camper barrel his way towards him. Ridley honestly had never seen him before. The male camper had calloused hands and thick arms. The enemy camper swung his two-handed bronze hammer. Ridley barely dodged from getting his skull crushed. He didn't even bother fighting back he was just dodging and trying to roll out of the way. He was getting pushed back closer to the creek. Ridley knew that if he was pushed back into the creek his movement was going to become slower and sluggish because of the water. Slowly but surely the big camper was pushing Ridley back into the creek. The rest of the blue team dispatched any of the remaining red team trying to make a run for it.

Ridley and the other camper were the only one's remaining near the creek. The big camper had finally gotten Ridley to the edge of the creek when there was a hard smack. The hammer connected and bludgeoned his midsection as he was hit to the floor. The pain was unbearable. Ridley thought that he had crushed or even shattered his ribcage. The big camper proceeded to walk away before Ridley called out to him. He began to get up.

"Come back and fight me. I'm not done!"

Altair noticed the army of campers heading towards his flag. They were about even when it came to man and woman power. Swords clashing and metal on metal was heard throughout the clearing of the forest. Clarisse was wrecking through her opposition. Annabeth was subduing some of his teammates with a mere bronze dagger. Luke was sweeping and disarming his teammates at an alarming rate. Altair decided to get started. He started by being on clean up duty. He was going after the opposing team's stragglers, who were on the outskirts of the group. He quickly disarmed and knocked them unconscious. By the end of it all, it was only Altair and Luke. Altair had quickly dispatched a fatigue filled Annabeth.

It seemed like they were the last ones left. Luke got into a defensive position waiting for Altair to go on the offensive. Altair had always been taught by Percy that being on the defensive was the best way to win an even battle. Altair knew that Luke was not some pushover. There were reasons people strayed away from him during the battle. So he took on a defensive stance as well.

Luke got impatient and swung first. Luke was wielding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Altair on the contrary was using a larger sword with no shield. Luke swiped his sword at Altair's feet, which he easily blocked. But Luke was planning on it as he quickly pushed his shield forward trying to knock Altair off balance. He saw through it and quickly elevated his leg and kicked both Luke and his shield away from his body. Luke this time side swiped his sword aiming for Altair's hip, which he struggled to block. Luke had power behind every swing. Altair decided that he had to end this quickly, so he switched onto the offensive. He swung his sword with both hands overhead as it hit Luke's shield with a loud 'cling'. Luke stumbled but maintained his footing. Altair swung crazily with speed and precision which made Luke go onto the defensive, he was barely able to dodge and block Altair's thrusts. Altair finally saw an opening into his defenses and swung his sword, aiming for Luke's head. Altair obviously knew Luke would duck, so he quickly kicked Luke's shield out of his grasp. With one overhead swing he disarmed Luke as his sword clattered to the ground.

The demigods who were spectators of this great fight were shocked that Luke lost. It was because he never lost. But Altair was sweating profusely, he actually struggled to beat Luke. Luke still had more potential since he was still young. Altair on the other hand had reached his limit, he had centuries of experience and yet he barely beat Luke. Luke reluctantly surrendered. Altair decided to quickly jog to the enemy's flag to get the game over with.

But he saw Ridley and a bigger camper battling it out near the edge of the creek. Ridley was losing badly. He was bleeding from the side of his forehead, he looked slow from the beating he was suffering. All the campers had gathered around to see what was happening. Finally, the hammer hit him square in the ribs (again) and Ridley flew and splashed into the creek. He wasn't getting up.

"Ridley!" Altair bolted forward and quickly with the hilt of his sword knocked the big camper unconscious. He ran into the creek and noticed that Ridley's wounds were healing and closing. Before Altair could say anything a green-bluish light was hovering over Ridley's limp body. A trident was hovering over him.

Chiron trotted out from behind a large tree and said "Hail Ridley. Son of Poseidon the sea god." Every camper surrounding the creek got on one knee. Altair quickly tossed Ridley's unconscious and limp body over his shoulders and followed Chiron to the infirmary. Percy left shortly right after that night.

 **Page Break**

Ridley had no dreams and for that whole week was unconscious. Some campers came around the infirmary to see if he had woken up. But they left because he was still unconscious. Annabeth had been at the infirmary taking care of Ridley for some odd reason.

He finally woke up and Annabeth quickly went to notify Chiron. Chiron explained that since Ridley was claimed by Poseidon, Zeus would blame him for stealing the master bolt. Poseidon and Zeus were usually on bad terms. They would quarrel over the most minute thing.

Shortly after that, Chiron advised Ridley to go to the Oracle and get a prophecy to go on a quest and retrieve the master bolt. He did so but before pissing his pants in fear.

Ridley came down and restated the prophecy to Chiron.

 _You shall go west, and face the god who has turned_

 _You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned_

 _You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend_

 _And you shall fail what to save what matters most in the end._

Annabeth and Grover volunteered to go on the quest with Ridley and shortly the next day they were set to depart and embark on a dangerous quest…

 **A/N Sorry guys for not uploading in a week like I said I would. Assignments have just been really killer these days. I swear teachers just confer and decide to make students' lives a living hell or in this case living Tartarus. I spent a whole day on this chapter even though its bad. Not only that but I had to rush some of the story line because I'm on the fifth chapter without a major quest going on yet. So, I had to quicken the pace. I hope the fights were alright, I was never good at describing or even visualizing fights to make them entertaining. I know that I put a huge amount of dialogue into this chapter, it's a lot of talking between the characters but I felt it was necessary to introduce themselves to each other and not have them just be allies off the get go without really meeting each other. I'm trying to move fast in this story line where I can soon involve Thalia who's going to be a huge presence in this story. As you know I'm kind of following the book's storyline but also changing somethings, so it is not an exact replica. I just think it's more entertaining with some plot twists. Anyways please review and tell me what you think.**

 **P.S Sorry for the grammar mistakes. Also Annabeth and Ridley's relationship will be explained in depth next chapter, I just had to hurry it up this chapter.**

 **Also Calypso and Percy won this story's pairing so I'll be introducing her sometime in the next few chapters.**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me.**

 **Chapter 6**

The sky rumbled with the absence of lightning, the gray clouds masking the sun creating a visible veil to the world. In the largest room at the peak of Olympus, the twelve U-shaped thrones are in place. Sitting upon them are the twelve Olympians angry and bickering amongst each other. The blue ceiling was filled with glittering constellations but were swirling around due to the unrest occurring within the throne room. The hearth in the center of the throne room was ablaze, towering as tall as the Olympians themselves. Hestia the only goddess within the room (without a throne) was tending to it, trying to calm the fire and the Olympians.

"Poseidon you dare claim that child as yours? You have broken the oath we swore upon many years ago." Zeus roared to his brother who was sitting right beside him to his right.

"Do not speak to me about breaking oaths! You were the one to first break it brother. Your ignorance blinds you from the truth." Zeus eyes darkened, and the sky continued to rumble.

"Do you dare speak to your king like that? I suppose, since you have no respect towards the oaths swore upon the Styx, you would be the one to steal my master bolt. You sent your spawn to retrieve it. That worthless spawn of yours. He would of course stoop so low to the actions of thievery." Zeus got up menacingly trying to make Poseidon stand down.

"You may be king by title, but that does not mean I will stand here and listen to your empty accusations. You speak of I being the unfaithful one. How about your wife and our sister Hera? How many times have you gone behind her back to satisfy your lustful desires?" Poseidon stared directly into Zeus's blue eyes. He stared unflinchingly, Zeus had enough.

"Enough! If you do not return what belongs to me I shall declare war upon you. I give you till the Summer Solstice. If it is not returned to me, you know what shall happen. Everyone will take sides and the rest shall take place later." Zeus was about turn and leave the chamber. But Poseidon angrily spoke up.

"Brother we are almost of the same respect. Why go through this? But all is the same. Likewise, I expect a formal apology by the Summer Solstice." Poseidon vanished until only a puddle of water remained. Zeus began to pace around the throne room.

"Poseidon acted uncivil in this meeting. But he was not the only one. Father you must settle your rivalry aside and not let it blind you to the truth. War is not the answer" Athena said from the left of him.

"Enough Athena! The matter is settled. I cannot believe you are defending him and yet you despise him." Zeus didn't stay around long enough to hear her retort. He quickly made his way out of the throne room.

 **Page Break**

Altair was unenthusiastic about embarking on a quest that doesn't directly involve him or the hunters. Of course, he cared about Ridley and the rest of the world. But the god's conflict wasn't something he was keen on solving. Percy had always told his hunters that the gods were a proud bunch, not willing to admit their mistakes. But for some reason Percy had decided that this needed to be solved.

It was already morning time. He had been awake since what he presumed was sunrise. Some sunlight was seeping through the gray clouds, but it was still somewhat dark. He decided to go the cabin that Ridley was dwelling in. He showed up unannounced and found Ridley still asleep. So, he did what he usually did when he found hunters slacking. Ridley hit the floor with a thump.

"Ouch! That really hurt" Ridley said as he rubbed his eyes trying to clear his vision. When he saw Altair was smirking he threw his pillow directly at Altair's face.

"Ridley you need to be awake by now. We are to set out on this quest today and I want to retrieve this bolt as soon as possible. I do not wish to wound your emotions, but I have better things to do back at camp. So, proceed quickly and pack up." Altair shortly left his cabin.

Ridley quickly packed some of his belongings that included the golden dagger that Percy had gifted him before his departure. He wasn't too excited either about going on a quest that could lead to the loss of his life. He was still too young.

He made his way out of his cabin where Altair was leaning against it. "Let's go I'm ready." They were making their way towards the Big House where Chiron had told them to meet the other quest members.

Altair didn't know much about anyone that was going on the quest. Annabeth seemed like a demigod with pride issues. Grover seemed too timid, he felt that he could be a liability. Ridley was an unexperienced demigod with no training at all. This is was going to be a suicide mission.

As soon as the group entered Chiron's office he spoke. "It seems everyone is present. Before you set out on your dangerous quest I must speak with you. First things first, this is the first quest for all of you. One thing you must know is that you must stick together. If you get separated you're most likely dead. Ridley is the leader of this quest as he is the one who received the prophecy. Lastly, there's a chance one of you may die. This is serious, this is life or death. So, treat it accordingly. Lastly, Argus will transport you back to the city. Good luck young ones"

Altair felt disrespected. He wasn't a child, he'd been alive for many centuries already.

The group left the Big House and made their way towards Half-Blood hill where Argus would be awaiting them. But before they could make it they heard a yell from behind them.

"Hey wait up! I've got to give you something." Luke sprinted his way to catch up to the questing group.

"Ridley before you go I have a present for you." Luke pulled a shoebox from behind his back. Altair was really suspicious of this 'gift' he was giving Ridley. Luke barely knew him.

"These are winged shoes that were given to me by my father Hermes. But I decided they might be more useful for you on this quest." Luke quickly shoved the shoebox into Ridley's chest.

"Gee thanks. I know they will help us on this quest." Altair looked at Ridley and knew that he had no idea how to even use them.

"Before I go. I had to say goodbye to Grover and Annabeth." He approached Annabeth and gave her a hug. He noticed that Annabeth had a slight flush of reddish tint on her cheeks. Grover received a handshake and a good luck. After the whole reunion Luke finally waved goodbye to them.

The group made their way to Argus and soon they clambered into the old van that Camp Half-Blood provided.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Percy had travelled to the west coast of the United States. He embarked on his journey as soon as he left Camp Half-Blood that night. He had travelled to the west coast, specifically San Francisco, California to meet someone. To catch up on some reconnaissance.

He was near the shore of a body of water. Percy patiently awaited his guest. He had swapped apparel from his original dark cloak. He was now wearing a leather jacket with a plain white t-shirt, black slim fit jeans and black leather boots. In summary he looked like a biker.

"Finally abandoning the cloak, I see. This look suits you a bit better. You looked rather homeless before." Percy turned around to look at his guest.

Standing in front of Percy was a woman full of beauty. She had a deathly pale complexion, glowing hair, and bright sea-green eyes. She was wearing a flowing green dress with a belt of abalone shells. Her face was beautiful.

"It is always a pleasure to see you Kymopoleia. Sadly, we are present to speak about other matters." Percy turned and began to walk in pace with Kymopoleia.

"Remember Perseus, I keep on insisting you call me Kym." Perseus interlocked arms with Kym as they continued to walk near the shore of the hidden beach.

"Yes, it keeps slipping my mind. Anyhow how is your father Poseidon and of course your husband Briares?" Kym's face wrinkled with disgust. She of course despised Briares, she was given away to him by her father Poseidon for helping them defeat the titans. Poseidon on the other hand did not have a healthy relationship with her.

"Briares I am apathetic about, for the time being. I do not know his whereabouts. I avoid his presence as much as I can. Poseidon continues to treat me like the alienated child he claims me to be. I'm no longer welcome at his palace. Pity really." Perseus had already heard her story from previous meetings. But he was hoping for her case, that things would improve. Sadly, that was not the case.

"Pity indeed. I was anticipating for things to improve. Alas centuries have passed and still nothing. Now to the task at hand. Any recent reports on the whereabouts of the titans." Kym had proved to be a reliable informant for Percy. She had an interesting method to gain information. Both liked to be informed on the state of the realms.

"Yes, there are new reports. Oceanus seemed to be in a state of unrest. He of course isn't a threat currently, to my father. But I have a sensation that his unrest is due to the escape of his brethren. I learned that Hyperion, Krios, Iapetus, and Koios have all escaped Tartarus. But I think it may take some time for them to make their assault against Olympus. Kronos's consciousness has finally awoken. It is only a matter of time before the Titans make their move on Olympus." Perseus was deeply troubled. He wanted nothing more than for the Olympians' downfall. But the titans were another problem. They were definitely not the solution.

"And where do your loyalties lie Kym?" Kym gave a sweet yet wicked smile.

"My loyalties lie with the side that gains me more recognition of course. How about you Perseus? I think you'd make a great general for the Titan Army." Kym eagerly awaited his response.

"We shall see Kym. For now, I must beg my leave." Perseus kissed Kym's hand.

"Of course. Take your time. But remember Perseus the Olympians are treating us like one in the same" Kym gave Percy a quick kiss on his cheek before she went into the water. She was half submerged before Perseus spoke.

"I'm aware of your son Kym. He's in safe hands." Kym turned back to look at Percy.

"Oh of course. Remember why he was created Perseus. He is supposed to be a useful piece in the Titan army." Kym dissolved into water that merged with surrounding water.

Perseus stood near the shore for some time reflecting on the reports and information that Kym had provided him. Kym was always mistreated which is why he understood that she was siding with Titans. But that also complicated matters. Kym was a reliable informant, but Percy's loyalties rested elsewhere. His mother Selene and uncle Helios had always told him that the titans used their allies then betrayed them. The titans were a treacherous bunch. He knew that Kym was going to be tossed aside if the titans prevailed in the war. Percy had no romantic feelings towards Kym, but she was still someone he deeply cared about. Kym on the other hand held some romantic feelings towards Percy but he didn't replicate them. Percy could convince her to stay neutral and to stay out of the war. But that was extremely perilous, he could be deprived of his informant while also declaring that he wasn't on the titan's side. Which in hindsight makes him another target. Matters were now more complicated than ever, he had to plan, and he had to plan swiftly.

 **PAGE BREAK**

"Ridley you are a buffoon. You led us to the wrong bus station. We're supposed to be at the Greyhound bus station." Annabeth declared as she gave new directions to Argus after they proceeded to get lost.

"Sorry I don't travel that frequently. I thought that was the one" Ridley apologized. He was getting frustrated. He wasn't used to people depending or relying on him.

Altair meanwhile was sitting in the farthest seat in the back of the van trying to gain some rest. But teenage bickering was stressing him out. The hunters he dealt with weren't this bad. How could this bunch be so annoying he asked himself?

"Silence! Just be silent for the travel there please. Then you can resume your fruitless wrangling" Altair yelled from the back of the van.

And they did just that.

They had finally reached the correct bus station and Argus proceeded to drop them off. The group got off and looked at the bus schedule to see when the next bus was supposed to pass.

"Great the next one comes in thirty minutes. Thanks a lot Ridley. We missed the last one because of you, you idiot." Annabeth said as she stared pointedly at Ridley who was about to blow a fuse.

"Enough please. You are quarreling like little children. The less quarrels that occur the quicker we conclude this quest." Altair said as he then proceeded to sit in the nearest bench to wait for the bus.

Some time had passed. But Altair detected something out of the corner of his eye, he witnessed three elderly women making their way towards the group. He witnessed them stare daggers in Ridley's direction. Great now strangers despise Ridley. The trio of elderly ladies stopped a few feet away from the group but not before giving a mean eye towards Altair for staring at them.

Before he could take action, the next Greyhound bus arrived making its stop directly in front of them. The bus momentarily diverted Altair's attention as he pushed the rest of questing group into the bus. He was hoping the trio of elderly women would not follow them onto the bus. But his misfortune seemed to win out in the end.

The wretched and ghastly women slowly clambered onto the bus. Altair pushed the vexatious quest group towards the back trying to avoid the elderly women. He had an egregious feeling that something was up with them. They're far off from the norm. Thankfully, Altair saw that the trio sat at the front of the bus.

Shortly after, the bus launched forward as it made its way towards their respective destination. Some time had passed giving the quest group a false sense of safety. Annabeth, Ridley and Grover were immersed in a small conversation, instead of their usual bickering. Altair was in his seat with his eyes closed but still being alert, keying on his other senses. His hearing caught the voice of a raspy and screeching voice as they made a proclamation.

"We're heading to the bathroom. If you'd please excuse us." Altair heard footsteps as they made their way through the aisle of the bus. Altair had failed to realize that the bathrooms were situated at the rear of the bus where they were casually lounging in.

"Shit." He muttered under his breath. He had learned that word from some of the more modern hunters within the hunt. He still wasn't caught up on the more modern English vernacular.

Ridley quickly turned towards Altair with a slightly agape mouth. Altair deduced he wasn't used to that type of language. Altair on the other hand had witnessed and been on the other end of such word usage.

Annabeth quickly realized that the trio of wretched women were heading in their directions. She quickly pulled out a baseball cap and advanced to put it on Ridley as he seemed to vanish. Altair was surprised and then realized Ridley had gone invisible. Percy had recounted that Athena had such ability and often times blessed tangible items and gifted them to her offspring. Hypocrite, Altair thought.

The trio finally reached the young quest group. Instead of continuing towards the bathroom, situated directly behind them. They stayed in place as if glued into the floor.

"Where is it?" They asked in unison.

Altair frowned. They were definitely not ordinary humans. They weren't humans at all.

"Where is what?" Altair quickly piped up before anyone could say anything.

"Do not play dumb, you witless child." The women in the middle said.

Before anyone could say anything, the ghastly figures revealed their true form. Their outer skin and clothes were torn to shreds revealing even more terrifying figures. Standing in front of the them were three monsters. They had leathery bat like wings, razor sharp claws, huge sharp yellow fangs, and glowing eyes. In their grasps were whips, already full and drenched in red blood and what Altair concluded was golden ichor.

"They're the furies. They were sent by Hades. They are probably trying to stop us from retrieving the bolt and finishing the quest!" Annabeth yelled as she drew out a small celestial bronze dagger. No one could see him, but Ridley was frozen in place, but he quickly snapped out of it and pulled his own gold dagger.

Grover pulled out his reed pipes and began playing some of his music. The furies yelled and screeched as if they were in pain. They quickly launched themselves on the demigods and Altair. The whole commotion caused the rest of the people in the bus to look back. They saw four teenagers trying to avoid being hit by old elderly women with their purses due to the mist.

Altair drew out his bow and tried to shoot the furies, but they were in tight quarters and he couldn't fully extend his bow to shoot arrows. He cursed and dropped his bow and pulled out some silver hunting knives realizing this was the perfect situation to wield them.

"We have come to retrieve what was stolen!" One of the furies yelled as she swiped at Altair.

Annabeth and Altair were trying to protect Grover who was playing his pipes which seemed to hurt the furies sense of hearing. Whatever it was, it was working. The furies where slashing with their whips which made a swish sound. Thankfully all the mortal bystanders had resorted to move towards the front of the bus and away from them, none of the mortals were injured.

Altair threw one of his silver hunting knives which embedded itself into one of the furies wings. It cried in pain as some of its golden ichor dropped into the aisle of the bus. Seeing its sign of weakness Altair threw his only silver dagger which hit the fury directly in between the eyes. It screeched a deafening screech before bursting into dust.

Before he could turn to help Annabeth, the bus made a sudden shift in direction which caused Altair to trip and barrel into Annabeth. The furies elevated a little even within the cramp space to avoid tripping as well. The bus driver was yelling from the front about a malfunction with the steering wheel.

"It's Ridley. He's causing the sudden shifts and crazy driving. Now get off me." Altair got up and saw the furies still eyeing them with their hawk eye vision.

The crazy driving seemed to cease which allowed the both of them to cautiously regain their balance. One of the furies screeched as it burst into dust. The confusion from the other fury allowed Altair to snatch Annabeth's dagger and sling it directly into the head of the remaining fury.

Ridley materialized after removing the baseball cap. "Did I kill her? Please tell me I'm not a murderer now?" Ridley said as he stared at the mass of golden dust resting in the middle of aisle.

"You didn't really kill her. Monsters are immortal, they can't die. You just temporarily destroyed her body." Annabeth said as she snatched the baseball cap from Ridley's hand. She blew on it, blowing any imaginary dust or Ridley germs.

"Indeed. Like Annabeth stated you did not kill her. You are not a murderer those furies would've executed you if we didn't eliminate them. Lighten up. We have a long journey ahead." Altair quickly grabbed his backpack full of supplies.

When he turned to inspect the front of the bus, realization struck him. No one was present, all the mortals had evacuated. Sensing the worst Altair quickly yelled to the group.

"EVACUATE" Altair grabbed Ridley and Grover by the collar of their shirts and dragged them through the aisle rapidly. Annabeth was in front of him running for the exit of the bus. As soon as he was on the last step he tossed both Grover and Ridley on the hard concrete. Altair jumped the steps of the bus. As soon as he left the bus, the vehicle exploded which pushed Altair with force over both Grover and Ridley into the pavement.

Altair quickly got up brushing his clothes. "How did that not break any of your bones? You're not injured at all. Not even a scratch." Annabeth asked, almost demandingly.

"I rolled on the pavement which shifted my body weight evenly. As for scratches well, you have to physically cut me to scratch me." Altair said as he went to check on the others.

Grover was rubbing his knees and forearms. Ridley on the other hand was up with no scratches, he landed on Grover which broke his fall.

"Nice job Ridley, you destroyed our method of transportation. Now we have to walk. Not only that, all my supplies are destroyed, and the food is not edible anymore." Annabeth's stomach began to grumble as soon as she finished. Annabeth's stomach wasn't the only one growling, the whole group's stomachs sounded in harmony.

"Well, we won't find food out here. We have to get going." Altair looked in both directions before he finally set his sights on a gas station and a weird shop. It looked like a statue antique shop from his perspective.

Then another thing came to Altair's senses. It was the smell of food. "It seems there is food straight ahead. Come, let us set forth and see if we can find food and satisfy our hunger." Ridley nodded and decided to allow Altair to take the lead.

They began walking their trek to the shop that they assumed the food was located in. It wasn't that far of a walk since they got there in about ten minutes. Altair and Ridley scouted the gasoline station and realized it was abandoned. There was a lack of people and food to loot.

"The creepy antique shop it is then. I'll tell Grover and Annabeth that is where we are headed." Before Ridley could leave Altair asked him a question.

"What are your emotions towards the daughter of Athena?" Ridley made a confused face. He wasn't expecting that question.

"I think she's annoying. But I think she's smart and essential to this quest." Altair was expecting an evasive and generic response. What he expected he received. He just nodded and followed Ridley to tell the rest of the group that they were heading to the antique shop that appeared open.

The group made their way towards the shop and realized, like the gasoline station it was empty except for numerous statues. The open sign was visible on the glass door. Altair tried the door and it opened, which immediately rose his suspicions.

However, his stomach and hunger got the best of him and he tossed aside any notion that there was immediate danger. Which was further reinforced when an overly cheerful tall women with a long black gown appeared. She was wearing a cloth that covered the majority of the top of her head. She wore dark glasses that impeded viewing her eyes.

"Hello. To what do I owe this pleasurable encounter with young people?" Her voice had an odd melody to it. It was a rare accent. Altair had never heard it before and he travelled everywhere. Both Altair and Annabeth looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

"We're homeless. We smelled food, so we came this way." Annabeth lied easily.

"Yes, we are on a journey to find a home. We encountered this lovely abode and structure, so we proceeded to it. I hope your hospitability is great enough to spare us some food to satisfy our hunger. Also, please give us some water to quench our thirst." Altair finished. The lady made an odd face, frowning at the choice of words Altair used.

"While of course. It gets pretty lonely sometimes here. Guests are always welcome." She smiled which revealed fang like teeth that were extremely white.

"What is your name, so we are further acquainted?" the women looked directly to the front of the window which read 'Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium'.

"Like the store's title suggest. Call me Aunty Em…"

 **A/N Sorry for the late update just had my laptop repaired. Also, sorry if the story is progressing extremely slowly. But hopefully by the next update the lightning bolt quest is done. I'm trying to get Thalia involved as soon as possible. Please review and tell me what you think. Sorry if Percy isn't involved as much in this chapter but in the next one he will be involved in some of the action.**

 **P.S Sorry for the grammatical errors.**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me.**

 **Chapter 7**

Percy was walking outside of a well-known bikers' bar somewhere in the Midwest. He was set to meet his next acquaintance. He had known her for a while now, but he tried to avoid her presence as much as possible. He witnessed the grandeur of her motorcycle, parked next to a series of other bikes. The other bikes looked bland and unthreatening, compared to the terrifying bike that belonged to his acquaintance.

He entered the rough and sketchy looking bar. As soon as he entered the bar, his expression turned sour. His nose caught onto the scent of vomit, piss, and sweat. Such a lovely setting to have a simple meeting.

Percy made his way through the crowded bar. He bumped into some sketchy bikers, some looked ready to jump him. But Percy quickly lost them in the surrounding crowd. Then he found her, in such a wretched place.

Playing billiards with men twice her size and width. If anything, it was her who was depositing fear into them and not the other way around. From Percy's interpretation he thought she was winning. Of course, she was Nemesis.

Percy made his way towards the table furthest back to finally have a chance to talk to her.

"I can't come to the conclusion on why you insist we meet here." Percy said as he sat in the loveseat directly behind her. She turned around.

Nemesis was a beautiful goddess with auburn hair and silver eyes. She wore a red jacket, with a black shirt, black jeans, black boots and carried a whip around her waist like a belt.

"I see you've changed your look. Trying to fit in with the surrounding crowd I imagine?" Nemesis said as she looked around to see the musty bikers with leather vests, washed jeans, and boots.

Percy contemplated his look before he met with Nemesis. He always liked to fit in with the crowd, so he wasn't easily spotted or worse, recognized. Today he had decided on a black leather sports jacket with a black v neck t-shirt. He wore faded jeans with black leather boots.

He turned to Nemesis as she continued to play her game. "Always the analyzing one Nemesis. You never reveal your true form to me. You're an unimaginative being." The playful insult seemed to strike a nerve, as she completely whiffed the ball with her cue stick.

"I'd be careful Perseus. Just because we are acquaintances and strive for the same goal, does not mean I won't unleash my wrath upon you for your impudence." Percy of course simply laughed. He had heard this threat many times over the centuries.

"I wouldn't laugh Perseus. After all, you're the one too afraid to tell me who I am and why you want revenge." Perseus got up in a flash and grabbed Nemesis by the sleeve of her red jacket and pressed her forcefully against the table.

"Struck a nerve, did I?" Nemesis did strike a nerve. Nemesis had an interesting ability to rile up anger and the wanting of retribution on the individual she appeared as.

The auburn hair and silver eyes should tell you who Nemesis truly looked like. Of course, Nemesis appeared to you as an individual you wanted retribution against. And right now, she was Artemis goddess of the hunt. That was his reasoning for avoiding her presence as much as possible. Nemesis would assume the appearance of Apollo and Artemis, and sometimes other gods. Nemesis however, didn't know who she appeared as. Perseus also wasn't willing to give that information up to Nemesis, it would just add to his anger and lust for retribution.

"No. I thought we were just enjoying ourselves. You like to play rough, don't you?" Percy recollected himself as he gave a fake smile. He was trying to contain his anger.

"Yes. I do indeed." Nemesis turned around as she set a few bills on the table. She said some words to the grown men. Before she turned to Perseus once again.

She pointed towards the office in the back and Percy obliged as he followed her.

"So, what brings you to my lovely abode? Or shall I say business?" Nemesis said as she sat in her office chair and perched her feet up on her desk.

Percy looked at her 'abode' or office with distaste. The walls were black and the light that was provided, barely lit half the room. It looked like an interrogation room if anything. He sat in the free leather chair that was somewhat torn, as if a lion used it as a chewing toy.

"You know why I'm here. The titans are rising. I want to be informed on their movements. But most of all, which side is the most appealing to you." Nemesis mockingly put her hand under chin pretending to contemplate what she was going to say.

"You should know the answer. After all, Kym also asked of my loyalties and dare I say she persuaded me. We 'minor gods' have to stand together against those who have wronged us. The Olympians are the ones who have wronged us." Nemesis said as she began riling Percy's inner retribution and distaste towards the gods.

"I'm the goddess of balance and retribution and I provide it to anyone who seeks it, for a price. I especially love to ruin the proud who are having too much luck. How about your Perseus? This is your chance. Wasn't it you who first came to me to commence a war against the Olympian council? Don't get soft on me now." It was true, and Percy admitted it. He was the one who brought up the idea of an immortal revolution. But that was back then, when all he wanted was their destruction. And he still does, but that means ruining the demigods as well.

"It is what I want. But the titans will push us aside if we win the war for them." Nemesis seemed to understand this as she nodded.

"There always risk in war. You have to take the chance." Nemesis eyed Percy skeptically.

"You look indecisive presently. I will give you some time. Let Kym know what your response will be. We've put our demigod children on the line for this. I even took an eye from my own child as payment for his wish. That how just I am, I don't pick favorites." Perseus knew too well of Nemesis's cunningness, but she was correct that she was just and fair.

"For now, my response is I will be neutral. I will let Kym know if my answer changes." Nemesis accepted the answer, but she spoke before Perseus could leave.

"Perseus you realize if you decide to side with Olympians, we will still be acquaintances. But in war that all goes into the pit of Tartarus." Perseus nodded.

"I despise the Olympians, why would I side with them?" Perseus asked her but mostly to himself.

"Because you despise the titans more. Or was it a lie when you told me this?" It was all true, he did despise the titans more. He was an abomination in their eyes. Fathered by a mere mortal, he was unworthy of their presence.

"All is fair in the game of war. I hope to see you again Nemesis?" Nemesis nodded.

And Perseus walked out of that hell hole.

 **PAGE BREAK**

"So, you're offering free food, right? Please tell me you have enchiladas." Grover looked around hopefully.

Aunty Em looked at him distastefully, as if he did something remotely incorrect. Then plastered a fake smile once again.

"I don't see why I can't cook some up." The group of questers blindly followed Aunty Em towards the back of the shop.

Grover passed by a statue of a satyr that looked oddly familiar to him. Too familiar. He took a hard look and realized it looked a lot like his uncle Ferdinand.

"What are you laughing at, Grover?" Ridley said as he looked oddly at Grover and the statue.

"Nothing, it's just that statue looks like someone I know." Ridley didn't bother asking further. The smell of food blinded the alerts and red flags that were going off.

"You manage this auspicious shop?" Altair looked around as he looked at all the statues. Almost every statue, looked in a state of shock. The eyes seemed to follow the questers warningly.

The nagging feeling in Altair's gut kept pestering him but he resulted it to his hunger.

"Yes. I used to run it without my sisters before they left to do their own thing." Before Annabeth and Altair could say anything, she spoke first. "Here we are. I have some burgers, fries, shakes, and of course enchiladas for you." As she pointed at the group and specifically at Grover.

The groups stomach grumbled in unison. They looked at each other before concluding that they would satisfy their hunger first, before they asked questions. She gave them each a plate with a burger and fries. As they were eating they couldn't help but savor and enjoy the foods taste.

"This is amazing. One of the best enchiladas I've ever tasted. That's telling you something Aunty Em." Aunty Em smiled at Grover with her brilliant white teeth that held a certain edge to them.

As they finished their meal, their defenses and instincts began to kick in. Especially Altair's. Altair had now realized the predicament they were in. They were in an enclosed structure with an unknown individual, not knowing that person's full capabilities. Percy had always taught him to be distrustful of strangers, specifically the nice one's who had a hidden agenda deep within.

"Your sisters why did they leave." Altair eyed Aunty Em suspiciously.

"They weren't as good at creating statues like me. They couldn't capture their faces and expressions like I could." Annabeth froze as a deep thought from the back of her brain clawed into her current thoughts.

"Must be lonely around here. No husband?" Ridley asked stupidly. Both Annabeth and Altair looked at Ridley with anger apparent in their eyes. Ridley hadn't realized it sounded like an insult.

Aunty Em's face wrinkled. Her features twisted in those of anger. "No. I was once beautiful, which attracted a man. But a wretched and prideful woman drove us apart. She did an act that ruined me. She made me no longer desirable." Altair looked at Annabeth, Grover, and Ridley. Both Grover and Annabeth nodded as if realizing that the women in front of them was the gorgon Medusa. Ridley however, was oblivious as he nodded stupidly, even having an expression that showed sympathy.

"Such a tragedy that occurred to you. Mournfully our group has to depart. We give you appreciation for your favorable hospitality." Altair said as he grabbed his bag and tossed it to Ridley. He started to rally the troops to depart. But Medusa deduced that they had uncovered her identity.

"Before you depart. I ask if I may take a picture of you." Ridley of course nodded, oblivious to the cunning and deceiving Medusa.

Medusa fetched into her pocket, as she pulled out an ancient and disposable camera. She began to take of her head wrap and glasses. "Don't look! Avert your gazes!" Grover shouted. Ridley was at a loss as he kept looking at Medusa. Altair zoomed into action as he tackled Ridley to the ground, breaking the eye contact.

Medusa hadn't fully unveiled her head or her eyes to cause the irreparable damage of becoming a statue, forever. "It's the gorgon Medusa. No one look into her eyes or her head!" Annabeth yelled as she ducked and ran through the statues trying to run for the exit of the shop.

Grover and Ridley did the same. But they were in loads of trouble, as Medusa began trailing them. They couldn't turn around or look anywhere except in front of them to avoid from becoming an addition to Medusa's statue collection.

Altair closed his eyes and tuned into his other senses. Making sure to increase his hearing and touch to sense the vibrations, while also hearing footsteps. The downside to such capabilities is that he was vulnerable. He could differentiate his allies' footsteps or vibrations from Medusa's.

He heard the bell jingle at the front door which meant that Annabeth was the first one to escape. He heard heavier steps and clacking which he assumed was Grover. The door jingled, and Grover was the following member to escape.

Altair was waiting for the bell to jingle a third time, but it had been a minute and still nothing. No footsteps or vibrations. Which meant Ridley was either hiding or he had become a statue. Or the more hopeful scenario was Ridley managed to destroy Medusa. He cursed aloud in Greek.

"Such a young age to be saying those unkindly words." He heard a feminine voice say.

"Medusa what is your business with us? And what are the whereabouts of the young Ridley." Medusa cackled, but he heard the sound of snakes in between.

"I stopped following that brat. He is of no concern to me. But you, you're special. You must be one of those nomadic male hunters that Kronos had spoken about." Altair tensed and froze. How could she possibly know? His blood turned ice cold. Kronos was arising? Altair thought to himself.

"What is wrong? Tongue twisted? I think Lord Kronos will reward me greatly by capturing you." Medusa laughed mockingly.

Altair felt and heard footsteps a few feet to his right. It had to be Ridley. It had to be. He was the only one who hadn't left the premises.

Altair was too busy listening to his surroundings he hadn't heard Medusa begin talking "-Well Lord Kronos has promised me more demigods to turn into statues. I think that is enough to join his cause-" Altair heard a sword being unsheathed. Before he knew it, he ducked as he heard a swoosh in the air.

Then he heard the sword connect with flesh as it struggled to clear the head off Medusa's neck. A heavy object fell to the ground and it began to roll around.

"Your eyes are sealed Ridley?" Altair said as he made his way to the head with his eyes closed. He put his foot on the indentations where he believed the eyes would be.

"Yes. Can I open them now?" Altair first opened his eyes to make sure he had correctly covered the gaze of Medusa and thankfully he had done it.

"Indeed, it is okay to open and see the light. Pass me the glasses." Ridley made his way where Medusa carelessly dropped the glasses and tossed them to Altair. Altair closed his eyes once again before harshly placing the glasses on Medusa's face.

Altair left the head haphazardly on the floor and made his way to a desk full of papers. He picked up a specific paper that had an interesting seal on it. An invoice to a specific address in Los Angeles. He recognized that symbol anywhere, it was Hades' helm of darkness. He stuffed the paper into his pocket then turned around.

"What is it you are doing Ridley? And how did you know that Medusa was in front of me?" Altair caught Ridley stuffing Medusa's head into a cardboard box and taping it shut.

Ridley guiltily looked at Altair. "I had my eyes open, but I held them to the ground. I recognized your clothes and just swung wildly hoping to end her. And well I wanted to send her head to Olympus as a surprise, I guess." Altair looked from the box to Ridley before a smile made its way onto his face.

"Splendid idea and I know the address of Olympus." Altair made the note and wrote the address with his spectacular penmanship. He wrote a note on Ridley's behalf.

The duo then made their way out of the building, finding Grover and Annabeth pacing back and forth across the street. When Annabeth saw Ridley, her eyes went from worry to relief to anger. She quickly made her way towards Ridley before hitting him in the arm.

"OW!" Ridley said as he began rubbing his arm where Annabeth had punched him.

"You're an idiot you know? You could've died. Then you wouldn't be here, and we wouldn't be able to finish the quest." She added the last part quickly. Altair just scoffed, she was just trying to hide her true feelings.

The whole group was exhausted and paranoid of another threat. They made their way into a patch of woods hoping to camp out and rest. Away from view. Altair luckily had packed an extra sleeping bag into his bag, which is why his bag was large. The group had made fun of him that he was going camping. Little did they know it would become useful.

He stretched out the bags and gave one to Annabeth. Grover had insisted that he would rather sleep on the floor, he was used to it. Stating he was one with nature and that it was part of his routine. He decided to give the last sleeping bag to Ridley, who shyly accepted it.

"I'll take first watch." Altair said tiredly.

"No. I'll do it." The prideful daughter of Athena offered. Altair already exhausted and a little annoyed, lashed out.

"Just let me do my job! Let's face it. I'm the babysitter of you inexperienced demigods." Ridley and Grover looked a little hurt. While Annabeth was red from anger.

"I apologize. I'm just not used to taking care of others. Usually, the hunters are experienced, and we trust each other to watch out for one another." This seemed to calm down Annabeth.

"In addition, you are just children. You need sleep to grow. Archer trained every hunter to be able to go multiple days without rest. So just believe in me." Altair didn't wait for their response as he climbed onto a nearby tree and perched himself on a branch and began tuning all of his senses to be on high alert.

The rest of the group fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

 _The next day_

Everyone was ready to go.

"My supplies are still intact. I have snacks for multiple days, but we have to be sparse and careful not to overeat." Altair tossed each one of them a breakfast bar.

"Why aren't you eating one?" Grover asked as he munched on the wrapper.

"Hunger is not an issue for me, presently. I will eat when I wish. Now let us go, we must find transport to Los Angeles to the entrance of the Underworld." Altair began his way back towards the open street hoping to hitchhike with the group.

"You have money for transportation?" Annabeth asked in matter of fact tone.

"No daughter of Athena. I have this rectangular object that Archer handed me in case of Emergencies. But we must first look for someone to transport us to the nearest method of public transportation" Altair pulled out a black metallic card from his pocket.

"That is what we call a credit card in modern day." Grover said jokingly. The younger questers of course laughed. Altair's face was blank not comprehending the joke.

A good Samaritan gave the group of odd children a ride in the back of his pickup truck to the nearest Amtrak train station.

Annabeth and Altair made their way towards the train schedule and pay the ticket with the credit card.

"The farthest west the train will go is Denver, Colorado." Altair was trying to impose his will on this negligent and stubborn worker. But Annabeth decided to avoid the commotion by agreeing.

"That's perfect. Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth snatched the card out of Altair's hand and gave it to the lady selling the tickets. The worker gave them their tickets for four people.

They made their way back towards Ridley and Grover, who were sitting on the benches in the open.

"We got the tickets. Farthest we will go is Denver. So, after that we have to figure out how to make it to Los Angeles." Everyone nodded and resigned themselves to sit there until their train was ready.

The train came and thankfully they sat together. The train ride was uneventful, and Altair was thankful for that.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Percy had asked all his connections and none of them had information over the Master Bolt. Something he disbelievingly accepted. Whenever they claimed not to know the whereabouts of it, he read their body language and he know they were withholding information.

"Thanks once again." Percy said as he walked out of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. He had been travelling back and forth seeking information that everyone claimed not to have.

Before he could make his way back onto the illuminated streets of Las Vegas, Sin city as they called it, one of the Lotus eaters called out to him.

"I don't know the whereabouts of such weapon. But I do know that it wasn't the only one to be stolen. Hades' Helm of Darkness has also mysteriously disappeared and its whereabouts are unknown." Shock filled Percy. Everything made sense now. Which explained why Hades was also restless.

He began fitting pieces together into his head and began realizing why Poseidon was the one being blamed by his brothers. He was the only Elder god to not lose his symbol of power. Which made him a prime suspect and thus the easiest to accuse of thievery.

"Thanks once again." The Lotus eater nodded before he made his way back into the prison the rest of his kind had created. All he was hoping for was that Altair wouldn't fall for their trap and lose track of time.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Altair and the gang made it to Denver, in the middle of nowhere. He looked hopelessly around trying to find another method of transportation. But gave up when everything he found looked abandoned or unable to be used.

The group wandered aimlessly, away from the Amtrak station. They were hoping if they went further out they could find another method of transportation.

As they were walking in the middle of a vacant street, heading farther and farther away from the station, they were hoping to find a fast food restaurant to satisfy their hunger once again. Their legs were exhausted, and they were hungry. They didn't brighten up until they saw a local diner that was miraculously situated in the middle of nowhere. They were prepared to order the whole menu. But before they could enter the diner they heard a roar of a motorcycle that was deafening them, directly behind them.

Sitting upon the deafening motorcycle is a bugling and muscular man radiating negative energy and danger. Altair didn't want to admit, but he was terrified of this mysterious man. He was wearing a large black leather duster jacket, a skin-tight red shirt, black jeans, and combat boots. Situated over his red shirt was a bulletproof vest that radiated power and heat.

He gave the group a once over look, looking at them distastefully with a hint of disappointment.

"These are the elite demigods Camp Half-Blood have sent to impede a war? Might as well prepare my armor and start polishing my weapons." Altair's blood started boiling, the utter dislike for this mysterious man was growing drastically.

"And who might you be?" Altair said, puffing his chest out trying to be intimidating as possible. The mysterious man looked at Altair with amusement, like he was some pushover.

"Ahh yes. I'm Ares of course, you must know of me." He said rather cockily as he flashed shiny white teeth when he smiled. The smile didn't make Ares any less intimidating, in fact it just made him more fear imposing.

"Sorry but I don't know you? Are you a minor god?" Someone obliviously said from behind Altair. Of course, it had to Ridley, sometimes he could be really clueless.

The comment wiped the smile off Ares's face. That ignorant comment caused a crack in Ares's façade of being in a state of calmness. He wasn't the god of war by title, he is the most violent god out of all the Olympians.

"I'm an Olympian which makes me an important god. You children are ignorant and rude. You're lucky I'm supposed to spare you, so you can continue with your quest. But before I give you transportation further west, I will pay for the next meal." Ridley had dodged a bullet. Ares had concealed within his duster jacket, a fire arm made of celestial bronze.

The questing group with the god of war, made their way into the diner as he intimidated the host into giving them the table of his choice. He pushed through some of their customers who quickly moved out of the way, knowing he was temperamental and highly susceptible to violence. Anger and violence radiated off of Ares, making anyone near him feel angry. He was compelling them to want to commence a battle, war, and bar fights. You name it.

When everyone had ordered their food and sat their awaiting their meals to be placed on the table, Annabeth asked the one hundred-million-dollar question. "With all due respect Lord Ares, but why are willing to help us?" Ares stared at the group blankly, as if in a trance before he recollected himself.

"I love violence. But a war between us, within the Olympian council, is plainly stupid. We should be focusing on the real enemy and that is anyone outside of the council threatening us." Ares seemed satisfied with his answer not bothering to elaborate.

"Are you doing this on your accord? Or is there a hidden agenda? Do we have to retrieve something for you as well?" Altair asked suspiciously. If there was one thing Archer had taught him, it was that no immortal did anything for free. They would ask for payment on your debt later.

"No strings attached. I would've asked for you to retrieve my shield, but I got someone else to do it. Pretty isn't she?" Ares said as he pointed at his bullet proof vest.

"That's a bulletproof vest, not a shield." Ridley stupidly pointed out.

"You're so lucky your old man is counting on you to save his ass. I would've killed you already, if I didn't want to end this dispute." Ares said as everyone's mood started to become hostile.

The food arrived which disallowed the group and Ares from talking any further. Everyone ate a feast, while Ares stared blankly at the wall, not bothering to touch his food. Once everyone was finished, Ares became hostile towards the workers in the restaurant. He was claiming the food wasn't up to par and that he wasn't going to pay for the meals. The workers just nodded and let the group walk out of the diner without any trouble. They were to afraid and fearful of Ares.

"That is your ride over there." Ares pointed to a van with two large individuals stuffing empty crates into the van.

"You've got to be kidding me." Annabeth said surprised and a little frustrated that they couldn't get a better method of transportation.

"Of course not. If you rather walk I understand." Ares said truthfully. Knowing they had no other options.

Everyone looked at each other before nodding at the god of war. They made their way into the van sneakily, while the men were inside the diner. Ares presented 'gifts' to Ridley before he departed back towards his motorcycle.

Ares grabbed four blue majestic pearls from his front pocket and handed them to Ridley. "Your old man gave me these. He suspected we would cross paths and told me to give them to you." Ridley grabbed them with care. The pears looked fragile and beautiful.

"Lastly, here's a bag full of supplies. It has all you could need. Extra clothes, food, and Oreos. I know you kids love that." Ares shoved the bag into Ridley's chest, which caused such an impact that Ridley was nearly squashed into the crates. Ares did that purposely.

"Well that is all I have. I have more pressing matters to attend to. So, I bid you farewell." Ares closed the door of the van in the groups face. The van shook vehemently from the sheer force Ares used to close the door.

Next stop, closer to the west…

 **A/N Well I said I would update during the weekend, but I guess I finished earlier than anticipated. As you may notice I am changing some things from the original storyline. I don't want this story to be exactly the same, so that is why I changed some details. Some details I totally scratched out (Encounter with Echidna and the Chimera. Percy jumping from the archway and getting the pearls, retrieving Ares's shield.) I just felt those were some minor details that could be scratched out. It would require more unnecessary chapters. Also, I thought I could finish the lightning thief arc in two chapters, but I was wrong, there just so many details for it to be finished in two, so expect an extra chapter or two. I will try my best to update next week, but no promises. Review to tell me your advice like always, I feel happy when people review. For the purpose of this story I will input Reyna's POV during the titan war, so we could get the Roman's perspective. Also, if you didn't catch it, the titans and some monsters know about Percy's group but don't know their full details. They're wary of them because they don't know what side the Hunters of Archer are siding with.**

 **P.S Sorry for grammar mistakes.**

 **Calypso will make an appearance next chapter, although she won't be meeting Percy till further in the story.**

 **Also, if you like the parts where I input Percy meeting his 'allies' against the Olympians and want me to add more please tell me. If not, well there won't be one next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hunters of Archer**

 **A/N Here we go, another chapter after two weeks. Sorry for the broken promise.**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me within this story.**

 **Chapter 8**

Percy was still in the Midwest meeting his final acquaintance. Out of all his acquaintances this one was particularly mysterious and kindly put, terrifying. He entered the small structure that immediately put him on edge. As he entered, he found the room vacant and silent, something that created paranoia within him.

The walls were colored obsidian black making the whole room feel like an endless dark pit. Candles were neatly arranged in rows on a small table at the furthest corner of the wall. Several odd half statues decorated each side of the wall. Directly in the middle hovering underneath the ceiling, was a chandelier. But instead of light bulbs illuminating the room, a soft set of orange flames were in place on the chandelier that provided a soft glow.

Directly in the center of the room was also a circular table covered in a purple cloth. On top, was a crystal ball, candles, cards, and some ornaments and necklaces.

Further towards the back was a room that was shielded by a regal red curtain. So, Perseus sat in one of the chairs and waited for his acquaintance.

The way the room was decorated and situated wasn't effectively describing the goddess that he was waiting for. The room made it out to look as if the goddess was a psychic or an individual that could predict the future. Maybe so.

She had the ability to convey several crossroads that can directly lead to life altering changes. But usually she presented you with many options. She was the goddess, Hecate. Goddess of magic, mist, crossroads, and witchcraft.

She finally pushed the red curtain to the side and made her way towards the center of the circular table. She looked at Percy in disbelief, she wasn't expecting him.

"Did we arrange a meeting? Or did you show up unannounced?" She annoyingly said as she sat down in the center of the room, crystal ball directly in front of her.

Her appearance would shift and change infinitely with each time Percy had a meeting with her. One meeting she was a blonde with black eyes. The next meeting, she had black hair and green eyes. As if with every goddess, the beauty and ageless physical features seemed to stand out most of the time. This gathering in particular, she had blonde hair that descended to her shoulders and dark eyes. Hecate was wearing exquisite white robes, but her twin torches weren't present with her.

"The latter is the precise answer. This meeting could not wait. It is an urgent matter." She looked directly into Percy's silver eyes looking for a trace of weakness or deceit.

"Very well. What has brought you to my presence?" Percy got up and sat in the chair directly in front of her. The table was the deterrent from him sitting any closer.

"You are very close to Hades." Percy inquired. Hecate occasionally spent her time in the underworld. She had a very keen and close relationship with Persephone.

"That is none of your concern. If that is why you have come, I suggest you depart before you anger me." Hecate said as a greenish aura began surrounding her form.

"Intimidation is not how we became friends." Percy said as the candles began to glow brighter. The heat also began to intensify.

The aura around Hecate began to grow brighter. Percy began to see odd things in the background, almost like hallucinations. "We are not friends as you stated. Our goals merely align, to a certain degree. I want respect and honor. You want to start your own civil war because of some feud you're too afraid to discuss." The air became hotter and humid. The candles in front of him and surrounding Percy and Hecate were glowing and blazing angrily. Shadows around the room began to dance, it could've been Hecate's or Percy's shadows, it wasn't known.

"Your goal is to gain allies to oppose the Olympians. It is reasonable. That coincides with my goal of overthrowing the Olympians, to finally receive the well-earned honor and respect I deserve. The 'allies' and 'acquaintances' you speak of, are only in it for their personal gain. If there is anything you must know about all immortals and you alike, is that we only have our goals in mind. We are to prideful to think of anyone else." The fire died down and the room was engulfed in shadows and darkness.

The shadows and darkness seemed to dance in Hecate's point of view. Percy was hidden in the shadows, knowing that the shadows were also apart of Hecate's power. He wouldn't dare attack, that was unnecessary and certainly dangerous.

"This meeting is over Hecate. Our acquaintanceship or whatever you call this lopsided companionship is done. You are right about one thing my dear Hecate. You gods are too prideful to think about your own self gain. That is why you will lose this war. I'd rather stay on the outside, in the shadows, to avoid a massacre and pyrrhic victory from either side. Because in the end, you know as well as I do, that if the titans win, they will push you and the rest of the minor deities away. The Olympians will do the same, you are always going to lose." Percy said as he vanished into the shadows, traveling from shadow to shadow.

 **PAGE BREAK**

The van ride that travelled westward came to an unknowing halt. The individuals stopped at a bright and large structure. 'Lotus Hotel and Casino' the big sign with strobe lights brightly read.

"This is going to be epic. I've heard this Casino is the best in Las Vegas, no one wants to leave when they get in." The group heard the duo of men converse amongst each other.

Ridley and Annabeth had finally opened up to each other and spoke of their rocky pasts. Something about the constant pestering and prying of Ridley seemed to slowly destroy the walls Annabeth had created around her. Adding to the bumpy and constant crates falling over seemed to make conversation easier, anything but staring and feeling solitude and the bumpy ride.

"We'll be the judges of that. Let's play some games before we give our review. After a couple hours we'll finish delivering the old chinaware and silverware back to the company. "The older driver said as he pulled out a rubber band full of old and wrinkled bills. Mostly ones of course.

The men proceeded towards the elegant, bright, and dazzling displays of the casino. Sleek cars and individuals littered the entrance of the structure. The line that was piling at the front door dissipated with ease. They let everyone in, while the casino workers proceeded to give them membership passes and the whole package.

"Well I guess we should go play too. It looks like they're going to be in there a while. Seeing as they are the only method of transportation, I think it's best to keep an eye on them." Ridley said as he quickly opened the back doors of the creaky van. Crates continued to fall with fragile chinaware, which surprisingly didn't fragment into a million pieces. They packaged them with bubble wrap and extra cushioning to keep the ware in pristine shape.

"You're so dense. Casino and gambling are for adults only. We are kids. Plus, you still look like you belong in lower elementary school." Annabeth retorted pointing at Ridley. Giving him the up and down look in the process.

"I will gain us entry to this dazzling business." Everyone turned to look at Altair who hadn't said anything even after the meeting with Ares. He looked visually shaken. His eyes had a hidden glint of fear with anger.

Everyone scoffed. Annabeth stared at him with distaste and a little bit of annoyance. He clearly wasn't listening to her. "Please, daughter of Athena. I may not look the part, but I have my methods of gaining access to these kinds of exclusive businesses." Altair didn't bother elaborating as he walked past the group and straight for the entrance of the Casino. He quickly tapped a worker on the shoulder who was wearing a rather expensive black pressed tuxedo. He definitely looked the part.

"Excuse me, I have to gain entrance into this 'casino' you speak of. My parents are in there. And quite frankly I'm the rebellious one and we slyly slipped away from their supervision. I know what section of the casino they are within. Just let me proceed and I'm sure they will make your lost time worthwhile." Altair easily lied as he showed off his pure white teeth. The man in the suit frowned before his face became neutral once again. He had a dawning realization that these weren't normal teenagers. He slyly smiled.

"Of course. Proceed this way." He motioned for the group to follow him inside the structure.

The group looked in awe as they passed multiple sets of floors filled with games. They made it to the main floor which was full to capacity with infinite people of all social classes.

The floor, like the outside foreshadowed, was bright and dazzling with multiple neon lights. The carpeted floor looked new and ancient at the same time. The carpet was crimson colored, filled with flower patterned designs with multiple colorways. The carpet was well maintained being spotless with no impurities.

Machines with monitors littered one side of the floor, a bar was set at the center with crystalline glasses and expensive liquor. Bartenders worked tirelessly satisfying their clients. At the center of the room, was a crystal chandelier with various moving pieces dangling from the ceiling. To top it all off, a large tank with many colored fish decorated one wall of the casino, full of strobe lights inside.

Shifting their gazes towards the other side of the floor they were met with tables ranging from billiards, poker, roulette, bingo, and craps. Multiple workers manned each station filled with married couples, loners and every kind of individual.

"You see your parents anywhere?" The worker broke their admiration of the Casino.

"Unfortunately, not. I think we will find them, you must have better things to attend to?" Altair asked hoping the worker would get the hint and leave the group alone.

"Of course. I have to get back to my station. I'm not supposed to do this, but I'll give you premium memberships for the games, so you can play. When I was a kid I wanted to be involved in these things. I see myself in you guys, so I'll give these to you. Just lay low and have fun!" The worker said as he quickly went back to his station on the outside. He moved a little too quickly while wearing a tuxedo.

The group looked at the 'premium membership cards' they were handed. The card looked expensive and elegant. The card was dark green, metallic, and had a little weight to it. On the front of the card was a flower, a lotus flower. Altair was weary. For such an individual to carelessly give children membership cards to a casino was raising alarm bells and his defenses.

While he was having a conflicting argument in his head, he hadn't realized the rest of the group disperse and begin playing games on the floor. Ridley quickly made his way to a surfing game, with an actual surfboard on display that he could use. He swiped his membership card and began playing the game. For a twelve-year-old boy he could surf adequately.

Annabeth meanwhile, went a little further from the group, heading to a game machine that had caught her eye one the way through the main floor. A architecture game. Once she sat down and began the game she was addicted and was transferred into a different reality. She could design anything she wanted through the game and could easily delete the structure or project if she felt it was deficient of her architecture capabilities.

Grover decided he was hungry and drifted away to the snack bar within the Casino. It was at the end of the room by the tank. He ordered enchiladas with water and sat at one of the booth tables to eat. He sat there admiring the tank full of fish swimming around carelessly. They went in and out of their little structure that was inserted as hiding places for them. Grover had a smile on his face, the view and the enchiladas were excellent.

Altair witnessing that everyone had dispersed and left him to his own thoughts, decided he would browse and analyze the games at his disposal. He was inept with technology, so he quickly strayed away from such monstrosities. One game caught his attention. He witnessed a senior playing a game that involved swinging a metal club and hitting a small white ball. This piqued his interest, the game looked amusing and undemanding. But that was further from the truth.

He took his place next to the senior and grabbed the gold golf club from one of the bags. He situated the white ball onto the golf tee or spike and swung. He hit the ball dead in the center, however, on the screen provided the ball was hit into the water. "Penalty stroke" The words on the screen illustrated.

Altair heard a raspy laugh from beside him and he realized it was the older and senior man who was also golfing.

"You need some practice kid. Take a look at the way I do it." The man got into a position into a certain degree and carefully aimed at the golf ball on the tee. He carefully swung back and forth a few times before swinging with power.

"I'll shall analyze your expertise in this game." Altair studiously stepped on the sidelines as he began to watch the senior kick his ass in golf.

 **PAGE BREAK**

The questing group had been through most of the games and won many tickets and various prizes. They alternated taking mini-naps while the others continued to munch on snacks and kept playing the casino games presented.

No one batted an eye, as if noticing a pair of young teenagers within a casino wasn't unordinary. Time seemed unmeasurable within the lighted and dazzling institution. But the questing group were in their own zone, dismissing the idea that no form of measurement of time seemed to be present. Clocks, watches, TV's were absent from within.

Altair had been playing with the senior in golf and he progressively got better. Eventually getting the best of him after dozens of games.

He had just finished taking his nap and decided to browse and roam the rest of the floor for any undiscovered games. He noticed Annabeth was still glued to the Architecture game, unable to handle her addiction. She had to physically collapse from exhaustion to be pulled away from the game and even in her sleep she spoke gibberish about the game.

Altair met with up with Ridley, who had just finished his game of saving the world from aliens.

"Altair this is getting weird. Some of these people dress ancient and out of date." Altair looked around and realized that he was right. He was old enough to know the current trend and the old trends from the Americas.

He noticed a male with colorful attire playing a game of poker with friends, with a similar taste in apparel. They were all wearing colorful clothes. One man was dressed in a purple track suit jacket with yellow pants pulled up way to high. Another man was wearing bright white/silver pants with a baggy pink long sleeve sweater.

Altair deciding to investigate and now regaining his senses headed towards the group playing poker.

"Greetings gentlemen. Is it okay for me and my companion to spectate this great match of poker?" One of them nodded as the group continued on with their match.

"I'm not really into poker. But my father watched the World Series of poker on the television. Jamie Gold was the winner." Ridley said as he tried to make conversations with the strangers.

The strangers busted into a fit of laughter as if Ridley made an inside joke that none of them understood.

"Kid you obviously don't know about poker. Everyone knows the last winner of World Series of Poker was Berry Johnston." Ridley looked at them in confusion.

"Who the hell is Berry Johnston?" Ridley said annoyed. He believed they were playing some practical joke on him. Altair meanwhile, was beginning to decipher the predicament.

"Isn't it obvious? Berry Johnston is the current champion of poker." They all began to laugh as they began to show their hands.

"Ha. I win now give me your chips." The group passed in various amount of chips while they began setting up for the next match.

"What year exactly, did this Berry Johnston win the World Series of Poker?" Once again, the group looked at Ridley as if he was mentally insane. Or perhaps just ignorant.

"The year that we're still in. Which is 1986. Now stop bothering us and get lost kid." The group shooed both Altair and Ridley away from their table and match.

Altair went to investigate more as Ridley went up into their suite to wake up Grover, while on the way there also tear Annabeth from the game she was still playing on.

Ridley reached Annabeth's usual spot. Her eyes were bloodshot red, the only reason she was still clean was because she took a shower after a few minute nap.

"Annabeth it's time to go." Annabeth continued to stare straight into the game. She seemed out of it. Ridley pleaded for her to get off, but the words had no effect on her.

Ridley went back to that one moment when Annabeth revealed her true fear. It wasn't dying in combat, or some scary movie. It was a hairy spider.

"Annabeth come on let's go." Ridley tried for the hundredth time. Still no reaction or effect from her.

"Annabeth there's a spider on your foot!" Annabeth jumped and whirled around as her eyes showed fear.

"Where?! Get it off me Ridley." He just smiled, realizing he got the desired effect.

"There is no spider. But take it out on me later, we have to wake Grover up. Something fishy is going on in this casino." Annabeth ceded her revenge for later as they made their way to their hotel suite to wake Grover up.

Altair made his way towards the golf game he played with high frequency. He saw the old man that helped him improve his game in golf.

"Salutations sir. When did you say were you going to depart?" Altair asked skeptically as once again the old man was playing the golf game. He achieved the high score in the whole casino in golf.

"Soon. Things have gotten out of hand ever since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It's been a week ever since that happened and there's still danger lurking out there." Altair realized in shock of how long ago that had happened.

"Well it was an honor and privilege partaking in the wonderous game of golf." The man took his off cap in acknowledgement before going back to his game.

He met with the rest of the questing group in the lobby as he reached them, Altair said. "Let's evacuate now."

 **PAGE BREAK**

It had been five days already since the departure of the questers to retrieve the master bolt. Which wasn't the only item that was missing. Hades' helm of darkness seemed to slip out of his grasp and is within unknown hands.

The more irritating fact that was crossing Percy's mind was the inability and total loss of retrieving any information on either items' whereabouts. He had promised Camp Half-Blood answers, answers he couldn't provide. And now the questers were on their way towards the underworld to demand something that Hades hadn't stolen.

Percy knew how well that ended, you didn't live the day to tell it. That was for sure.

During his journey around with his associates he had been sustaining on his back his Midnight bow. The weapon just radiated power and was one of the reasons he had the ability to meet many associates and convince them to side with him.

The Midnight bow was one of the few reasons none of his 'associates' didn't hasten to quickly wound him or destroy his body temporarily.

To the mortal eyes his bow was just a backpack that he happened to lug on his journey, no one paid a glance or second guessed. Which was the story of Percy's immortal life. Not enough to be noticed but still be severely underestimated, and to a degree feared of his unknown abilities.

Percy didn't sulk for long, he had to reach the questing group before they falsely accused the proud Hades of thievery which would lead them to their demise.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Many of the lotus eaters kept trying to convince the group to stay at the casino for a longer period of time by offering them diamond membership cards and more perks. They immediately declined which seemed to annoy the workers but alas they let them go.

They hailed a cab and gave their premium credit cards to the driver whose eyes bulged enough that they believed they would either fall out of the eye sockets or explode.

The driver was paid well considering they made him drive from the state of Nevada to the state of California. During their long and tiresome drive there, the groups ears perked up when the radio was speaking about the weather for the current day and today's date. Today is Wednesday June 20th.

"Impossible. That cannot be." Everyone who was piled and crammed into the back looked irritatingly at their chaperone.

"Impossible that I haven't killed any of you yet?" Annabeth replied sarcastically from the front seat beside the cab driver.

"Nonsense. It is impossible for there to be only one day remaining till the summer solstice." Annabeth's facial expression changed from annoyance to surprise.

"What the actual Hades? That means we only have one day to complete this quest you buffoons. If we don't, the world as we know it will be destroyed." The atmosphere became gloomy which wasn't assisted by the dreary gray, dark, and rumbling skies.

"We have to reach Los Angeles ASAP." Ridley said quickly. The cab driver seemed to pick up on their anxiousness and began to drive at a faster speed.

"How much longer to Los Angeles?" Annabeth asked the driver who was now driving at daring speeds. It was a miracle they weren't pulled over by law enforcement which would further delay their mission.

"Not too long, maybe an hour." The driver said nonchalantly, without a care in the world. Altair would love to live in the mortal's ignorance, unafraid of the world's destruction, while having demigods do all the work.

The hour within the cab was full of tension and constant accusations of fault for lingering to long at the hotel and casino.

"We have arrived at DOA Records as promised." The cab driver said as he carelessly and idly parked his cab on top of the sidewalk.

"Thank you very much. Keep the credit cards." Annabeth said as the man quickly sped out of view.

"Well here we are. Time to go in." Ridley said as he led the way and quickly made his way into the building.

As they made their way into the building, he noticed that most of the 'people' lingering within the lobby are transparent and lucid. There was an immense line all the way up from the front doors to utilize the single and small elevator directly down the hall.

"This is great. By the time we get to the front, it will be next year." Grover joked. Everyone looked at him with amusement and a hint of annoyance.

Managing the line, was a tall and elegant man. His physical features were gorgeous. His chocolate brown skin was a perfect fit with his shaved blond hair. He was wearing an elegant suit that matched his whole appearance.

Altair passed right through the transparent beings and made his way up to the front. But not without being insulted by the many ghosts that were waiting to be transported into the underworld.

"Greetings we would like to seek passage into the underworld." Altair demanded, rather than questioned the man who was apparently named Charon as his name tag suggested.

"You are a part of the living and not the dead. Therefore, I must refuse." Altair looked at his emotionless and dead eyes.

"We must. Our mission is of grave importance. Let us pass." Charon wasn't having it, as he ignored them and proceeded to ask the spirits for their rightful credentials and paid fare.

Which gave Altair an enlightening idea. He tapped Charon's shoulders which he angrily turned around. His face shifted from anger to surprise.

"Here is pouch of golden drachmas. This should be enough to grant us passage, is it not my dear Charon?" Charon first looked at the group of questers and then the pouch. He greedily snatched the pouch out of Altair's hand who smiled triumphantly.

"Very well. Enter the vessel of transportation to reach the underworld." Everyone looked at Charon oddly with a sense of fear. Only the dead were supposed to be heading towards the underworld which made everyone pale a bit.

The group looked into each other's eyes before coming to a silent agreement that the mission was far more important than their fears.

They jumbled into the elevator full of dead spirits. As the elevator began descending, it began to break into pieces. They were no longer descending but moving horizontally on an oily and dark river heading towards a long line of individuals. It was guarded by a three-headed dog and large and immense gates.

"The River of Styx." Annabeth said amazed and a little frightened.

"Smart one indeed." Charon said before it turned silent once again.

Meanwhile, Charon had decided to alter his attire from the expensive Italian suits to a black caped cloak that made him looked thinner and skeleton like.

"I deserve a pay raise. I have to deal with many complaints from the many souls I speak with. Hades doesn't pay enough to deal with exasperating souls." Charon said as he continued looking at the long line of individuals waiting to be called and admitted through.

They were nearing the shoreline of dark rocks and volcanic sand. They reached the long line and disembarked the old boat as they waved goodbye to Charon who was heading to his despised job.

"The express lane to the Field of Asphodel." Annabeth said as she witnessed many robed ghouls dragging a man and treating him harshly.

"Let's get out of here before those things drag us out of here." Ridley pointed to the ghouls as they dragged the spirit away.

Cerebus however, wasn't keen on letting living trespassers get away. The three headed beast began to growl and bark louder which seemed to alert everyone.

Annabeth quickly improvised as she fetched a red ball from her bag and threw it in the opposite direction. At first, Altair was expecting the dog to attack them. But instead the dog quickly and happily ran after the ball.

Annabeth quickly shooed them through, as she waited for Cerebus to return with the ball. Within the seconds, the three headed dog came back with the red ball in the middle head's mouth. The other two heads had their tongues out and looked as if they were smiling.

"Good Boy. I'll come back to play later, okay?" Annabeth reassured the dog before she threw the ball with as much force as she could to distance the beast from them.

"Hurry up let's go." Annabeth yelled as they opened the EZ Death gate and headed towards the dreary and dark palace of Hades.

The alarms and alerts began ringing loud. They could hear shuffling of feet and wings from the distance as the group proceeded to hide in a dark and dead log that was big enough to hide in. They could hear winged figures nearing and seemingly patrolling the area. Ridley peaked out and witnessed the robed ghouls running in every direction looking for the culprits. He realized how fast they were, he was just hoping they wouldn't find the group.

The group further witnessed ghouls transport souls into the Fields of Asphodel and physically drag souls into the Fields of punishment. They also witnessed a selection of people head to an eloquent and clean gate. The sign read 'Elysium' which was the paradise for the deceased. The group could only hope they would ever reach such achievement.

Through the whole ordeal, everyone had failed to notice that Grover was using Luke's winged shoes. No one had noticed when he had slid them on for wear. They had been useful during their first days of the quest. Grover was able to escape Medusa's grasp by flying towards the door as fast as he could.

However, it seemed that the wings attached the shoes were restless. Waiting for them to take flight.

Grover was slowly levitating in the air as everyone looked at him. "What are you doing Grover?" Ridley was the first to ask.

"I don't know, they are doing on its own. Maia." Grover said hoping that the shoes would cease flight.

However, it seemed to give them more energy and control as it began to pull Grover in the opposite direction of the palace. Ridley reached for his hand, but Grover's hand was sweaty, and it slipped from his grasp.

Altair with inhumane speed, sprinted towards Grover and cut the wings off the shoes. But that didn't seem to work. They were bewitched and kept pulling Grover. Grover was heading for cave or cavern of darkness up ahead.

The group followed Grover with exhaustion inside the dark and cold cave. There were nearing a large clearing. They all realized it wasn't a clearing. There was hole with a large diameter with no bottom, and Altair guessed it was where the shoes were headed. It was the pit to Tartarus.

"HELP!" Grover yelled as he was nearing the cliff. Altair was in the forefront barely keeping pace with the speed at which Grover was being pulled to his demise.

Grover hit a huge rock which obviously hurt him. But that rock saved his life as the one of the shoes flew of his foot, due to their loose fit on him. Grover managed to grab a rock to halt himself as Altair managed to pull the last shoe off. The final shoe made its ways towards the cliff and descended into the dark pit.

"Heighten your senses. Do you listen?" Altair interrupted the complaining Grover, who was scraped on every part of his body and hands.

In the background they could hear a silent and deep whisper chanting an unknown language. It was calling to the group, it wanted them to jump in the pit.

"Let's get out of hear." Ridley said as he brought out his gold dagger, which provided some light in the gloomy and shadowy cave.

"Yes, let's go." Everyone agreed as they sprinted their way out of the cave with cowering fear.

They made their back to the beginning. They were in front of the palace before Grover was vehemently pulled away and almost lost.

Ridley was complaining that his bag was getting heavier by the second. Altair had resulted it to the exhaustion and adrenaline that was wearing off after following Grover. So, Altair quickly took the bag from him and realized like Ridley had stated, it was insanely heavy. It was manageable, so they continued.

They were in front of the glittering black palace. The guards at the front door of the palace quickly made way as the door opened. They were expecting them.

Everyone was silent, knowing that this was serious. It could be the last time they would ever be alive.

They made their way towards the throne room and witnessed a ten-foot-tall individual leisurely sitting atop the throne of fused bones. His skin was deathly pale, almost to pale. He was wearing dark silk robes, with an elegant and extravagant gold crown on his head. The god radiated authority which sprouted doubt onto the group of questers.

"I was expecting your group. You are foolish to come here after your actions." Hades looked directly at Ridley who was attempting to hide his fear. He was hiding behind Altair before he decided to reply.

"We have come here for a quest. We demand the master bolt." Hades had a multitude of emotions in one face. It showed amusement and anger at the same time.

"You dare accuse me of thievery? Ha. Your impudence will be your end." Although the threat seemed serious, everyone was miffed and surprised that it seemed Hades had no involvement of the bolt's disappearance.

"War isn't the answer." Ridley added on which served to only anger Hades.

"I'm not the one who wants war you little sea spawn. I want my Helm of Darkness returned, thief." Everyone including Altair was at a loss. Hades' Helm of Darkness was gone?

"Excuse me? I haven't stolen your Helm of Darkness." Hades eyes grew brighter as he shifted on his throne.

"You dare continue your sham? You were the one to steal Zeus's Master bolt and my Helm of Darkness. Now give me both!" Hades yelled as the cavern began to shake. Debris began falling from the palace which further infused fear into the group.

"Your Helm of Darkness is missing sir?" Annabeth asked as he turned his eyeless sockets towards Annabeth.

"Do not play stupid, girl. Of course, it was stolen. This is why I'm so angered that this sea spawn is playing stupid also." Realization hit everyone. This was all a plot to start a war between Olympus, but who could've started it?

Hades looked at Ridley and pointed. "Return my property, you foolish child." Ridley paled and looked genuinely confused.

"What property?" Hades' impatience got the best of him as he stood up, but made no threatening motion.

"Open your bag child. Show me my property, before I rightfully take it by force and kill you myself!" Altair tossed the bag towards Ridley who slowly opened it.

A humming was heard within the bag. When the bag was fully open a two-foot-long cylinder was visible with radiant power. "Ha! caught in the act, thief. Do not look confused demigod, you are conscious of your crimes. Now show me my Helm and give to me both Zeus's bolt and my property!" Ridley continued into his backpack.

Nothing else appeared in the bag thankfully, but he was caught red handed. "This is a mistake. Someone gave me this bag." Hades began to laugh humorlessly.

"All you heroes are the same. Always shifting blame to someone else. Now return them to me." Hades was getting angrier by the second. The three furies appeared from the ceiling of the throne room and they perched themselves on the throne of Hades.

"So, what will it be? Hand them now" Ridley began searching his pocket as he pulled out the pearls Ares had given him. He had to repair this misunderstanding. He gave each one of his friends a pearl, while Hades smirked. His brother always trying to protect his spawns.

"I'll fix this Hades." Hades for once looked confused.

"What do you mean demigod?" Ridley nodded, and everyone understood what he meant.

"Now!" Everyone put the pearls under their feet as they crushed them.

"Seize them!" Hades bellowed as the Furies and skeleton guards hastily went for the questers.

Ridley and the rest of the quester were engulfed in a white sphere as they began floating towards the ceiling. Everyone yelled as they were afraid, they were going to crash and fall down to their deaths in the throne room. Meanwhile, Hades was tossing balls of energy around his throne room causing catastrophes and earthquakes above ground.

All the questers with the exception of Altair, were screaming from their lungs before they hit the ceiling, and everything went black.

All of sudden the surroundings turned shades of blue and Ridley realized that everything that was given from the sea, returned to the sea. He saw the rest of the group in their transparent spheres, until they were spit out onto the surface of the ocean in the middle of Santa Monica Bay.

In the distance, it was evident something catastrophic transpired, as clouds of smoke and red was seen in the distance. No doubt Hades rage. Altair knew Hades might send an army of undead for their capture.

The main mission was to return what belonged to Zeus before a full-fledged war erupted between the gods.

Everyone was picked up by a coastal guard boat. And everyone was wet with their clothes stuck onto their skin, Ridley along with them to avoid suspicion.

The group felt a sense of dread as they realized It was early morning on June 21st. The day of the Summer Solstice.

They were dropped off onto the pier of Santa Monica by the Coastal guard. No one spoke realizing they were involved in a plot to cause a war between the three most powerful gods. They were in a serious predicament.

Altair and Ridley knew who gave him the bag. It was Ares. Mentioning the god of war, he was sitting upon his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Surprise on his face.

Ridley quickly ran up to him and accused him. "It was you! You were the one who stole Zeus's master bolt and the helm of darkness." Ares' sunglasses turned red, not liking the accusation.

"I can't steal a symbol power. But a demigod can. Someone like you, who doesn't mind going on a god's errand." Altair knew who it was, everyone was genuinely confused.

"Who was it?" Ridley pressed the war god.

"It doesn't matter kid. You should be dead. But I guess if you want a job done, you got to do it yourself." Ares entered a trance like state as he hopped off his motorcycle.

"You were supposed to die in the underworld, which would anger your father. Poseidon would be angry at Hades. Hades would be caught with my father's master bolt. And BOOM you got yourself a war." Annabeth analyzed Ares with distaste, knowing it was a great plan to start a war that would end humanity and the world itself.

"Plus, Hades doesn't have this." Ares pulled out a ski cap from his pocket. Once It was in plain view, it transformed into a bronze war helmet.

"The Helm of Darkness." Annabeth pointed out. Ridley was feeling dizzy from his anger.

"Why do it to your own family? You didn't want this, did you?" Altair finally asked. Ares looked at the boy in front of him. Ares had never seen him before, but the one controlling him had.

Ares once again, entered a trance as he began muttering and talking to himself. "It was my idea and a relative war is the best. The most catastrophic and of course, the most personal." Altair knew he was lying from the moment he entered the trance like state.

"You are trying to deceive me. But I know the you're not telling the truth." Immediately, Ares' shades turned crimson red almost catching on fire.

"That is none of your concern. I'm not controlled by anyone. I'm the god of war. I'm too powerful to be controlled. Now back to the present, I can't let you live. It's how war goes."

With a snap of a finger, Ares summoned a wild boar which began charging the group of questers. Immediately, Ridley took Altair's sheathed sword and detached one of the boar's tusks. The boar seemed enraged at Ridley, as it was only focused on him. Ridley simply sidestepped the boar and the waves and water grasped the boar with vehement anger and carried into the ocean. Swallowed by his father.

"Stop sending your minions after us. Stop being afraid of doing things by yourself." Ridley yelled. Ares was turning red from anger and tired of the demigod rudeness.

"I'm going to transform you into a worm then crush you under my boot." Ridley simply laughed, liking the angered state of Ares.

"Can't fight fair, can you? So much for being the god of war." That was the last straw for Ares, as a metal baseball bat appeared out thin air and he swung in Ridley's direction.

The baseball bat transformed into a two-handed sword which connected with Ridley's sword. The impact created a gust of hot air. Ridley unable to withstand the impact was tossed aside into the shallow end of the ocean.

Steam appeared around Ridley's body as his wounds began to heal being in his father's domain.

"Of course. Barnacle beard is helping you. You're such a weakling. Unworthy of my attention!" Ares yelled as he swung once again.

The water wrapped around his legs slowing him down. But Ares had exceptional reflexes and expertise with wielding his sword. He parried and dodged Ridley's attacks. Ridley was getting exhausted but revigorated by the water, but he knew it wouldn't last for too long.

Sirens could be heard from nearby as ambulances and police cruisers began filling the sandy beach witnessing the bout between Ares and Ridley. To the mortal eye they were using guns and were in a full fledge gun duel.

Ares created a wall of fire to impede law enforcement from disturbing him and stopping him from killing Ridley.

One of the police cruisers got to close within the wall of fire. The cruiser caught on fire and later exploded. A humongous crowd began forming behind the line of police cruisers.

A police officer yelled "No! You can't go through there. Kid!"

Ares turned around trying to see what the commotion was and at that moment of distraction, Ridley was able to get through his defenses and made a small cut on Ares' heel. He wailed in pain, eyes full of fury.

"You're going to die kid." Ares swung his sword harder and faster than before. Ridley was meeting him blow for blow but was getting exhausted. Every blow seemed to tear muscles within his arms or dislocate fingers as the swords clashed. The water slowly healed his muscles and tendons, but at a slower pace. The human body could only absorb so much.

Ares was finally able to knock Ridley down. Altair's sword clattered to the ground beside Ridley. He looked into Ares' smirking face accepting defeat. He limped his way towards Ridley hatred in his eyes, disbelief that a mere demigod was able to wound him.

Then he stopped. Ares entered his common trance like state. Before looking at Ridley with eyes of confusion. In that second of confusion, someone fast as light, with twin double-edged swords sliced Ares back side.

Ares wailed in pain as the figure revealed himself to be Percy. He no longer wore his cloak, his face and identity fully in view.

Despite the long gashes on Ares's leather duster jacket, he turned around and asked. "Who are you?"

"Perseus. Your worst nightmare." Percy winked as the god of war revealed his divine form and everyone with the exception of Percy, averted their eyes. Standing where Ares once was, was shards of glass. Percy quickly made his way towards Ridley.

From the distance Annabeth and Grover were awestruck at the speed Percy was able to strike Ares. No doubt he was going to be hunted down now.

The group that was thirty feet away, witnessed Percy speak softly to Ridley and him nodding. Their conversation was inaudible to the trio of bystanders. Ridley's eyes met Annabeth's and she could see a deep sadness within them before they showed no emotion at all.

Annabeth and Grover now knew "Archer's" real name. It was Perseus.

Perseus and Ridley quickly made their way towards them and they were in a hurry. The declaration of war would commence later in the day, so they had to hurry.

"I've bought you flight tickets to New York. I know you won't like flying Ridley, but you must, it is the quickest method of transportation. Now go." Percy quickly disappeared absorbed by the sun.

But before they departed, Ridley grasped the bronze war helmet Ares left on his motorcycle and whistled into the air. The furies appeared, and he tossed them the Helm of Darkness and the furies withdrew back into the underworld with their master's beloved weapon.

 **Page Break**

The flight towards New York was uneventful and thankfully safe. Zeus didn't strike them down from the sky. Zeus sensed his bolt was on that plane, striking the plane down would signify the destruction of his beloved master bolt.

Ridley had grown distant from the group, no longer bantering or joking around with the group. Annabeth realized it the most, he would only smile in her direction when his sea green eyes met her gray ones.

The elevator ride up to Olympus was nerve wracking. Altair had retreated back to the hunter's base camp in the Hudson's wilderness. Annabeth and Grover returned to Camp Half-Blood to detail the news of their quest and the success of saving Olympus from war.

Ridley was on the elevator returning what rightfully belonged to Zeus. Once the elevator doors opened and dinged, he witnessed the grandeur of Mount Olympus. He didn't linger to long on the buildings made out of gold, as he quickly headed towards the throne rooms.

Once he entered the large throne room, making him feel insignificant, he noticed Poseidon and Zeus bickering like brothers do.

"I've come to return what is your Zeus." Zeus quickly looked to the demigod who had his weapon he loved to wield.

"Give it to me. And explain yourself." Ridley tossed the Bolt into Zeus's hand as he looked at disapprovingly.

"I must clean this afterwards. A mere demigod wielding my beloved weapon, such a tragedy." Zeus once again sat on his throne and Ridley recounted the series of events.

"You are not deceiving me. You are telling the truth. But Ares to do such a thing is out of the ordinary." Zeus eyed Ridley skeptically.

"Ares has no fault. He was compelled to do so by an old enemy that is within the pit." Poseidon and Zeus looked at Ridley with shock.

"It must be him brother." Zeus grew irritated as he got up.

"That's enough I must clean my bolt. We will speak again demigod." Ridley nodded and bowed in respect to Zeus. A lightning bolt struck where Zeus was, but he was no longer there.

Poseidon looked at the blonde hair boy before he sighed. "You've done me a huge favor, I give you my thanks." Ridley just nodded knowing what was coming.

"Now to tell you the truth. You're not my son." Poseidon expected for Ridley to be surprised but what he saw in Ridley's eyes was resignation.

"I know grandfather. My true godly parent is Kympoleia." Poseidon nodded his head acknowledging that it was true.

"You only claimed me to do your bidding and to prove you were innocent." Ridley finally broke the silence.

"Sadly, I must say yes. But I very wish that you were my son. I care for you dearly." A humorless laugh was let out by Ridley.

"Of course, you would. Am I dismissed to return to camp?" Poseidon nodded and sat there looking at Ridley retreat.

"I'm proud of you Ridley." He turned around and nodded before running down the main road towards the elevator.

Once the elevator closed, one single tear dropped from his eye before he vehemently wiped it away.

Ridley returned to camp and burned his shroud with no emotions, while Annabeth smiled and laughed with the rest of the campers. Once that was over, he retreated back to his "cabin" and took a nap before meeting with Mr. D the next day.

Mr. D of course got his name wrong, calling him Ronald instead of Ridley. He gave the generic congratulations to everyone who was a part of the quest, even with Altair's absence.

The summer was about to conclude. The summer campers were beginning to pack up and were ready for inspection, before they departed back into the mortal world. Ridley had packed up his belongings, Percy's dagger and his necklace from camp. He headed towards the arena where he knew Luke would be.

Ridley found him practicing against the dummies and easily slashing them to just the filling.

"You're going to need a lot of those." Luke looked surprised to find Ridley behind him with his belongings.

"Yea well, they build and bring news one's frequently, so they never run out." Ridley tossed him a can of soda, which Luke graciously accepted.

When he finished Luke tossed the can in the arena which received a questioningly look from Ridley. "Well that was great. Refreshing actually. Well it's time for me to go."

"I know you're the thief Luke. I know you were the one they called 'friend'. I know it." Luke smirked and began to get his belongings he had tossed to the side in the arena.

"Yea well, I knew you were too smart for your own good. I have been here since I was fourteen years old, all year-round and it's always the same with the gods." Ridley nodded in acknowledgement.

"Sounds like you're saying farewell Luke." Luke slung his bag over his shoulder before snapping his fingers. A small hole appeared and from that hole, a scorpion appeared.

"I wouldn't do this Luke." Luke smirked as he looked at the scorpion.

"Well you were supposed to die in the underworld. I've summoned this precious scorpion to do the job." Ridley simply looked at the scorpion apathetically.

"Luke I've been a part of your side ever since I was born." Luke had a questioningly look as he begged Ridley to go on.

"I was created to be in this war. My mother Kymopoleia, had an affair with a mortal. I was born to become the perfect soldier for Kronos. To take down the proud Olympians." Luke looked at Ridley skeptically before snapping his fingers once again and the hole swallowed the scorpion whole.

"Why should I trust you?" Luke asked.

"Because you have no other option. I'm going to be a part of this war just like I was meant to be. Now let's go, before my mother asks what took us so long." Luke nodded before swinging his sword in an arch. Both Ridley and Luke vanished in a ripple of darkness.

 **PAGE BREAK**

She felt lonely. It had been many years since the last hero was sent to her island of Ogygia. She would do the same routine every day, which was plant her flowers in her garden and tidy around her humble abode. She was hoping for another temporary companion soon, even though she would be heartbroken again.

She looked in one of her crystals, something she did when she was bored and had nothing to do. Strangely, a figure appeared. On first sight, she admitted how gorgeous and beautiful he was. His midnight black hair and sparkling silver eyes made him seem unreal. Then he looked directly at her which made her heart jump. He couldn't see her, could he? Then his figure and beautiful face vanished.

But with it came new hope that a new companion might land on her island and it won't be as lonely as it Is now.

 **A/N So sorry for not uploading for two weeks straight. But I was debating on whether finishing the Lightning thief in one whole chapter or in two. But I decided it would be best in one so here it is. I finished the first arc. Now you know who Ridley's parent truly is. I don't know if anyone suspected or caught on to it. Only I know his true intentions, like I said he was also going to play a great role in the prophecy. But like you know now he isn't the prophecy child. Well onto the next arc. Tell me what you think.**

 **P.S sorry if you feel its rushed but It kind of was.**

 **Also sorry for any grammatical mistakes.**

 **I made some of the encounter short and I know. But some of the encounters are honestly not that important.**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **A/N Sorry I lied about updating weekly. But hey, no one is perfect. I took the advice of skipping the Sea of Monsters because like one review stated, it is one of the most uneventful books within the PJO series.**

 **And like always I don't own PJO OR HOO.**

 **Chapter 9**

The barriers of the camp were severely weakened. All the campers were cowering in fear at the mere thought of their safe haven being unable to protect them.

In the distance, many campers could see a large silhouette make its way towards the entrance of the camp. Expecting the worst, everyone sought arms and got into a ragged circle surrounding the borders of camp.

Once the figure was visible in the light, it was revealed to be Clarisse, daughter of Ares. All the campers sighed a sigh of relief as she barreled her way towards them. Carrying in one hand was a cloth of shining gold. It was revealed to be the Golden Fleece, her quest was successful.

Everyone cheered as they witnessed Clarisse head for Thalia's pine tree. The fleece emanated sheer natural energy. The energy was light and stress relieving.

As everyone neared Thalia's pine tree, the Golden Fleece seemed to heal its roots. The tree's poison was quickly expelled and evaporated into the air.

Annabeth with Grover arrived later to the camp due to the short skirmish between Ridley and Luke's forces. If it weren't for Chiron and the Party Ponies, they would've no doubt been dead. It pained both Grover and Annabeth that both Luke and Ridley would turn their backs on Camp Half-Blood. It lowered everyone's morale.

However the camp still celebrated their quest's succession with the burning of the shrouds and continuous feast of eating. Of course, sacrificing a portion of their food to their parents.

 **A few months later…**

In the depths of the Hudson wilderness a group of males were pursuing a nonexistent threat. Under the command of Perseus, they trained in the night and under extreme circumstances for preparation of what was to come.

For a while, ever since the return of the Master Bolt, both the hunters and Perseus were keeping themselves hidden from the eyes of everyone alike. Ares wasn't too pleased at the disrespect and impudence Perseus committed by attacking the god of war. Ever since that battle, Ares has been on the hunt for the silver eyed immortal.

Unbeknownst to them, a revival of a young and capable demigod hailed from Camp Half-Blood. Thalia Grace and her frightening lightning blue eyes was revived from the still, yet alive, tree that her father transformed her into.

"Alright I believe that is enough pursuing for the time being." Perseus called out from the shadows of a tree.

All the males straightened their posture at the voice of their beloved leader. Every single one of them, no longer sported the dreary olive green or black cloaks that hid their selfhood. Their attire changed to silver trench coats, black pants, and black hunting boots. The lieutenant with blue eyes was the only member who wore a black beret on his head which hid his brown curls. Visible on his finger was a silver ring which signified his lieutenant status.

"I fear something is the matter. Something of immense importance is going to transpire Perseus." Altair his lieutenant said.

"I have the same deep lingering emotion of your perturbation. The moon is dim which is very unaccustomed. We must figure this out." Perseus who was perched on his tree dropped down to eye level with Altair.

"We are leaving concealment? If that is so I would like to analyze the state of our allies at Camp Half-Blood. We have neither heard nor seen of them ever since the bolt's quest. I have heard from slain monsters that a few demigods defected to the Titan King's cause." Of course Perseus knew of all this. His "associates" abandoned his cause to join the feared Kronos.

"Before we do, we have received news that two demigods have been discovered in the upper part of the United States. Maine to be exact. I believe we should create an extraction team to bring them back to Camp Half-Blood." Altair questioned, hoping his permission was granted.

"Permission granted. I will assist on this extraction mission. We must set forth to Maine first before returning to Camp Half-Blood. What better way to do so by safely escorting new demigods to their camp." Perseus looked at Altair with amusement and pleasure.

"Splendid idea. We must set forth this instance." Perseus looked at them individually remembering every single one of his hunters story. He finally looked at all of his hunters and spoke to them.

"Altair and I will be travelling to Maine then Camp Half-Blood. We will be taking a few hunters. Count of ten to be exact. The rest of you will stay in the Hudson's wilderness and protect our camp and warn of us of any attacks or grave news." Perseus vanished into the shadows while Altair chose the hunters that were to assist them on their journey to Maine.

 **PAGE BREAK**

"This silence is killing me." Thalia yelled from the back seat.

Accompanying her, was the lonesome Annabeth. They were sent on a quest to retrieve two sibling demigods from a school located in Maine, after Grover's distress call. Grover had been scouting the school for any demigods, to safely bring them back to Camp Half-Blood. At first, there was no smell or hidden aura that he could sense, until he reached the pale pair of siblings. It was faint since they had no idea of the world they truly belonged to.

"I think this silence is peaceful. It's better than that disturbance they play on the radio." Annabeth spoke as she was meditating with her eyes closed.

"Yea well I was stuck being a tree for years. I 've had enough silence in my life." Thalia reached through the middle aisle of the vehicle as she turned on the radio and tuned it to a random station.

"Yuck none of this is any good. Hasn't the world heard of Green Day?" Annabeth who was sitting in the backseat beside her childhood friend just rolled her eyes at the loud daughter of Zeus.

"Obviously not Thalia. If they aren't playing the band it means they aren't that popular." Thalia couldn't believe the heresy her beloved friend had just spoke.

"Wow. Who shitted in your bowl of cereal? Sometimes you can be so depressed and serious. Cheer up!" Annabeth slumped back into her seat and turned her back to the Thalia.

Throughout her life Annabeth expected something stable in her life. Under the scrutiny of her mother Athena, the expectation was to be better at everything and everyone. However, even though some of that did transpire, the daughter of Athena felt lonely. She had Thalia which was refreshing and exciting in her life, but in the process she lost Luke. Grover was another irreplaceable friend she had, but in the process she lost an annoying little shit known as Ridley.

Case in point when something went her way, it always ended up being a double edged sword. She was angry at her luck and how everyone seemingly left her or disappointed her. Which is a reason she was more reserved, except for a select few she was close with.

The whole car ride was uneventful except for a few snarky and sarcastic remarks by Thalia who was growing impatient. She was energetic and eager to reach the school to finish the task and return to camp to do fun and exciting activities.

Alas they finally arrived at the school. "This looks like it's going to be fun." Thalia said as she hopped out of the vehicle into the chilly cold.

The school was known as Westover Hall, which overlooked a dangerous looking cliff and forest on the other side. The school was military based and resembled a medieval castle, with its dark and dreary stone, dark towers and narrow windows. Annabeth believed only evil could lurk within such a remote location.

"Do you have drachmas, weapons, ambrosia and nectar in case of any danger?" Annabeth looked at Thalia who haphazardly packed her items at camp.

"Yes mother. I have everything I could possibly need. Now let's have some fun." Thalia made her way towards the intimidating structure with a smile and excitement apparent on her features.

The door opened with ease. Through the hallways music could be heard, which was very unusual. As they made their way a few feet away from the door, the doors closed on their own accord. The duo looked back at the door questioningly, who could possibly close the door.

Annabeth and Thalia inched their way stealthily, closer to the sound of what they presumed was music. More or less both of them expected that the school was having a dance which could be good cover in the sea of students.

However, their stealth and carefulness was in vain as they heard a pair of voices not too far ahead. Annabeth and Thalia quickly stashed their belongings behind a large and dark pillar. Their timing was impeccable because not a second later, two individuals appeared out of the shadows of the hallway.

Thalia assumed they were teachers as they were your generic old and stiff individuals. The major difference was their military cut hair, which mind you, was absolutely gray. They wore black military uniforms that had a deep red trim.

"What do you think you are doing roaming the halls without supervision?" The lady quickly asked as she looked at the duo with contempt.

The man had a quick realization that the duo weren't students from Westover Hall and immediately corrected his colleague. "What are you doing here? VISITORS are not allowed." He emphasized the word 'visitors' with his French accent.

The man like his colleague, looked at the duo with more contempt and distaste as if knowing they were dangerous and troublesome. He had Heterochromia, one eye was a shining blue whilst the other was a dirty brown.

Thalia began snapping her fingers and an intangible manipulation of the mist seemed to stun his female counterpart. "We are students at this school. We've been going here for some time. You must have forgotten… My name is Thalia and this is Annabeth…" Thalia couldn't continue because she had no idea what the female professor's name was.

The man however did not look fazed or stunned. He looked at the daughter of Zeus, knowing that she had just manipulated the mist. But he still feigned he was affected. "Professor Gottschalk can you verify these are student of ours." The female professor looked a little confused at the duo in front of her.

"Well I don't quite… Thalia and Annabeth what are you doing out here. You know your presence is required and mandatory in the gymnasium." Mrs. Gottschalk looked at the duo with reprimanding features. No doubt trying to think of their punishment for breaking the rules.

From the other end of the hallway heavy footsteps could be heard. When the silhouette of the individual was verifiable, it was revealed to be Grover and he was out breath. He was expecting just to find the two demigods, instead he found teachers along with them.

"Professor Thorn and Professor Gottschalk–"Grover tried to continue but he was immediately cut off by Dr. Thorn. Seemingly, Thorn had the same amount of contempt and distaste as he explicitly showed his annoyance at Grover.

"You look happy to see this duo of young ladies. I do not understand the reason, you most likely see them more often than not. Or have you forgotten Mr. Underwood that they attend here." Grover looked confused but immediately put on a façade, although he looked rather nervous.

"Uh of course they attend here Mr. Thorn. I was just coming to tell them that the punch is amazing." Grover immediately began harshly staring at Annabeth and Thalia to get the hint. Both of them broke out of their stupor as they nodded.

"Yes indeed. The punch is exquisite. Now return to the gymnasium and enjoy yourselves." The trio didn't need to be told twice as they made a break towards the gymnasium and followed Grover closely.

As soon as they were outside of earshot they took a minute to assess the situation. They began laughing. "That was close." Grover said as he hugged both Thalia and Annabeth.

"So what is the urgent distress call?" Thalia looked at Grover expectantly.

"I found two half-bloods here. Siblings. A brother and a sister." Thalia and Annabeth couldn't believe it. It was rare enough finding one half blood alive and well. But two, that was a miracle.

"They are here at the dance." Grover said as he looked around the gymnasium full of strobe lights. There were snacks on one end of the gym and the dance floor was directly in the center.

There were a lot of kids present at the event. Girls hung out in cliques and terrorized the boys, who were trying to blend in and hope they weren't a target. It was utter chaos, nothing changes in the life of a demigod.

"Any monsters present?" Annabeth inquired knowing there had to be at least one. A demigod's scent was irresistible to monsters.

Grover looked at them nervously. "Well you just met him. Dr. Thorn. He suspects that they're half-bloods but he want to confirm. So he's keeping a close eye on them." Grover looked at Thalia expectantly hoping for answers.

But shortly after, Grover pointed at two kids in the bleachers of the gymnasium. The girl was wearing a floppy green hat, attempting to hide her face. The boy looked a little younger, with dark hair and an olive pale skin complexion. He had some playing cards in his hand and was trying to stuff them in his pockets. From the looks of it, they were arguing. The girl looked around as if knowing something chaotic was going to occur.

"Bianca and Nico Di Angelo. I haven't told them there heritage yet. You know how it works. If I enlighten them, their scent grows stronger." Grover said as looked back at the girls.

In that same instance Dr. Thorn made an appearance from the hallway and stood near the Di Angelo siblings and looked in the trio's direction. He nodded at them and acknowledged them coldly.

"Well that eliminates the plan of just grabbing them and going." Thalia said as she pondered for an idea. A lightbulb clicked and she had a splendid idea.

"Well let's dance. We can look normal for once and keep our eyes on the kids." Thalia grabbed Grover's hand and headed to the floor, hoping to blend in while analyzing her surroundings.

Thalia and Grover proceeded to the dance floor and began dancing. Thalia was trying her best to blend in, but Grover wasn't assisting. With his fake legs he was more uncoordinated than with his hooves.

Annabeth was left on the sidelines with the multitude of students standing and moving awkwardly. She noticed Thalia was staring at her and urged her to dance or at least look normal to divert Thorn's attention from them. It wasn't easy however, the boys lingering about and surrounding her were rather unsociable. They looked even more awkward and afraid of another female approaching them.

Annabeth felt someone brush up beside her and she instantly paled. Immense vexation and fury surfaced. She couldn't comprehend how the individual standing beside her had the audacity to show his face to her.

"Do you want to dance? I doubt there are other things to do here. We can even talk while we do so." Annabeth looked at Ridley up and down with apparent indignation. Could he be such a simpleton, to not understand her well-deserved anger?

Instead of shouting or even attacking Ridley she spoke to him in an even tone. "What are you doing here? I thought you were off killing innocent demigods and doing the Titan King's bidding like a lost puppy." Annabeth said as she stared straight into the mesmerizing and swirling sea green eyes.

"I take it that is a no? Well that's too bad. I was really looking forward to dance and converse with you. I guess not." Ridley turned around, but before he could move Annabeth grabbed his arm and judo flipped him. She proceeded to put her elbow and weight on Ridley's neck.

"What are you doing here? I'm not going to ask again!" Annabeth wasn't calm and collected as she usually was. Her emotions of betrayal and hatred were clouding her judgement.

With ease, Ridley wrapped his arms around her waist and rolled over her. "You should know why I'm here. My lord is after the demigods." Ridley got near her ear as he whispered something. She twisted and squirmed hoping to knock him off her. Until she heard his words.

"The general is free. Help is on the way. I'm sorry Annabeth." Annabeth laid still as a rock as Ridley quickly removed himself off her. He recollected himself before disappearing into the huge crowd of students.

Throughout the whole ordeal everyone didn't seem to notice their struggle. The few that did, simply thought they were playing around. The mist changed their view and the mortal's saw two lovebirds playing around.

However, while Annabeth was distracted by Ridley, Dr. Thorn and the two siblings were no longer in the gymnasium. Fearing the worst, Annabeth looked for Thalia and Grover, who also vanished from the gymnasium.

She quickly exited the gymnasium into the dark and hidden corridors of the school. She took out her dagger which gave off a faint light. She started to run through the corridor, opening the doors along the way. Most of the doors were locked and the ones that were open, were vacant. Annabeth scolded herself for being easily distracted. She began to think the encounter with Ridley was a ploy to separate the trio. Annabeth got to the end of the corridor and opened the final door. However, it seemed that she was at the beginning of the main hallway she had just been through. Confusion was even more evident when she noticed the two Di Angelo's looking at her with her dagger in hand.

Fear and anxiety was apparent on their face. Shadows could be seen dancing on the walls. Even through the whole ordeal it was relatively dark and she could barely see a few feet in front of her. If she didn't have her dagger on hand, she would've completely missed the Di Angelo siblings and kept investigating further.

"I'm here to help you escape. Don't be afraid." The girl clenched her fist as Annabeth got nearer. However, she wasn't scared of Annabeth, rather, the thing behind her.

Annabeth approached the siblings as slowly and nonthreatening as possible. But the girl's eyes widened and Annabeth now knew that they weren't afraid of her. Rather, afraid of the monster behind her.

Pain immediately emerged throughout Annabeth's body. She hit the ground with a resounding smack on the hard stone block. She was attempting to remain conscious, but the darkness didn't help nor the deep lingering feeling that this monster could kill her during her period of vulnerability.

"Ahh. I know all about you Annabeth Chase. Daughter of the prideful Athena. I've heard of your accomplishments and accolades. Retriever of the master bolt and of course the beholder of the Golden fleece, at your precious camp." A French accent was heard from the dark room.

Annabeth could barely stay focused on the voice that was speaking to her. The siblings that were directly behind her looked on with fear. Paralyzed with the revelation of the damage and monstrosities this evil being caused the blonde girl.

"My friends are looking for me. You better let us go." Annabeth groggily said as she tried to stand up with her own power. Her legs trembled with weakness. It was as if she was learning how to walk.

"How lovely. Well my mission was to bring the Di Angelo brats back to the General. But bringing a prisoner is a bonus. As for your friends, we will be long gone before they even sniff that you were taken." Dr. Thorn began to laugh evilly. However, his laugh wasn't human. It was more a half roar and growl which made the hair on Annabeth's neck to stick up.

Dr. Thorn easily picked up the Di Angelo's by the collar of their tops and dragged them through the exit. Annabeth in toll. She was struggling to keep pace with Dr. Thorn as she constantly tumbled, but never fell. The chilly afternoon air in Maine invaded Annabeth as she began to tremble from the cold air. The crunching of the snow was the only audible thing heard for a few minutes.

The group's adventure was nearing a close as they made their way to the pinnacle of the cliff. Annabeth had logically deduced they were heading to a rendezvous and that transportation would arrive shortly.

"Alright you annoying little brats. I have warned you, if you attempt to escape or yell for help I will rip out your tongue or perhaps remove a limb or two." The Di Angelo's looked on with cowering fear hoping this was just an abhorrent nightmare and they would wake up any second now.

"What's your name?" Annabeth inquired. She saw no other method of escape, what better way to die then by knowing the individuals who would join you into the next world.

"Bianca Di Angelo. This is my brother Nico." The boy hid behind his sister and Bianca protectively sheltered him. Present in his hands were playing cards and little action figures which Annabeth realized was the game of mythomagic.

"Don't worry, my friends are on the way. They are looking for me." Annabeth was hoping they would come. She said it more to herself to give her some morale but the outcome was highly unlikely.

"What is he? Is Dr. Thorn deformed or am I just imagining things?" Bianca asked as she looked at Annabeth expectantly. Her black eyes hid an endless tunnel of emotions which were well hidden. Annabeth had a lingering sensation she had seen those eyes before.

"Well he's a monster. He likes to hunt people like us. Half-bloods. Most of us are creations of infidelity and broken promises." Bianca looked at Annabeth with distaste. She obviously thought the blonde was mental.

"You're crazy. On par with Dr. Thorn. He says he has special plans for the both us. Whatever that means." The trio of prisoners looked at the monster disguised as a teacher. Dr. Thorn was looking in the horizon as if looking for something.

They were near the edge of the cliff which provided more gusts of wind, which blew directly into their faces. The horizon seen from the cliff wasn't spectacular or a worthy scene to behold. The sky was a dark gray from the constant light snow that was falling from the sky. Grey clouds littered the sky which hid the magnificent and warm sun. The woods that encompassed them gave them no sense of security. Annabeth was a moment away from resigning her fate to a fatal end when she heard music being played by reed pipes.

She immediately perked up with the recognition of the tune and harmony audible to her hears. It was Grover and he was nearing their location. Annabeth looked at Dr. Thorn, who was rather displeased at the mere thought of encountering unwanted trespassers.

"Perfect. None of my plans reach fruition without any interruptions. Sometimes the General expects too much of me." Dr. Thorn continued to mumble under his breath of the surmounting expectations Kronos has placed on him with the capture of the Di Angelo siblings.

The reed pipe tune was nearing by the second. It was if Grover could sense that Annabeth was in danger and knew her exact location. She just hoped that Thalia and Grover had a strategic plan of defeating the monster unscathed.

Dr. Thorn turned silent anticipating the movements and whereabouts of the meddlers. Audible to his ears was the crunching of snow beneath one of his foes. Judging from the distance he deciphered it was the same individual composing the harrowing tune. He began dispatching projectiles in that direction with extreme precision. In an instance the tune died down. However, Dr. Thorn knew he hadn't hit his intended target. It was more of warning.

Grover was nearly pierced by a sharp projectile that missed him by a few centimeters. The projectile was deeply etched into the bark of the tree. Grover has never been more grateful to nature for saving his life.

"Grover that's why I told you to come silently. But no, let's give him our position by playing a tune." Thalia said sarcastically. Although she was furious at Grover for being dense, she was also relieved that she hadn't lost a friend. She wouldn't bare it.

The two of them inched their way closer to the clearing of the cliff. Thalia presumed Dr. Thorn held Annabeth and the Di Angelo sibling's hostage there. She was examining her surroundings for the opportune time to strike stealthily and safely.

From the moment she was brought to life once again, she had been reckless. More reckless than before. She wanted to experience everything she had missed during that time period. But going to school was certainly not one of them. So when the opportunity arose to aid a distress call and bring potential demigods, she jumped all over it. Being on a quest made her feel alive and exciting.

They were at the edge of the clearing. Separating the woods from the cliff's clearing, were sharp rocks that looked hazardous. Grover with ease was able to climb over them, whilst Thalia had to circumnavigate which delayed her even further. At the same instance, she heard a commotion and heard Grover yelp.

"Finally caught you, you annoying little satyr. Now where is the other meddler?" Grover stayed silent as Dr. Thorn appreciated it, by listening for any sound resonating from the surrounding rocks.

Thalia silently cursed herself for being so inept at strategizing compared to Annabeth. She had no idea how to proceed. Except to infiltrate and lead her assault head on and hope she wasn't immediately impaled by Dr. Thorn's projectiles.

From the distance a feint sound of rotor blades could be heard. Like Thalia, everyone with the exception of Dr. Thorn, was utterly confused why a helicopter would be traveling in the foggy and windy weather.

As the helicopter neared, Thalia's auditory senses lessened as the noise of the heavy rotor blades resonated. Before she could react, she was pulled to the ground and had a knife pulled to her throat.

"We meet again Thalia Grace." Anger bubbled within Thalia. She could never forget those proud dark brown eyes…

 **A/N: For the purpose of this story I'm making Thalia thirteen years old. Like you know, if I would've kept her original age, she would turn 16 by the end of the Titan's curse. Which would defeat the purpose of the next two arch's (Battle of the Labyrinth and TLO). Which would also shorten this story dramatically considering it's only been nine chapters. So that is why I'm reducing her age. Also I apologize and I am sincerely sorry for not updating for a month. I wish I could say it was because of assignments, which is partially true. But in reality I just needed a break, so I started gaming (hehe). But I am back from that short break. So expect updates to be sooner than the month. Also, by the middle of December I will be done with my first semester of classes and will have a month long break so I will be doing a lot of writing and updating of my other stories.**

 **P.S. Like always pardon my trashy grammar and for honestly being a terrible writer.**

 **Also review, I love reading reviews they make me feel accomplished, even though I'm a trashy writer.**


	10. Chapter 10

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.**

 **Chapter 10**

Thalia was utterly vexed at the individual who decided to appear out of the woods near Westover Hall. She remembered the figure in front of her from the days of fleeing and scraping by. The commencement of her demigod life, on the run with Luke and Annabeth. The good old days.

Although, it was a dysfunctional family between the trio of early demigods, it was still a family. They were a tight knit group and she would never gamble away those memories and experiences to join some judgmental and distasteful hunters.

The leader was crouching beside Thalia with a hunting knife in hand. Strapped to her back was a quiver of arrows with her wooden bow slung over her shoulders. A silver aura emanated from the beautiful huntress. Royalty and authority radiated from her wonderous physique. She held her head up high ready for any threat to challenger her. The contrast of her copper like skin blended beautifully with her dark hair and eyes. She was tall and graceful, full of arrogance and pride.

"Zoë what are you doing here?" Thalia said through gritted teeth. Thalia had encountered the group of huntresses when She, Luke, and Annabeth were on the run around the country. At first, hearing the adventurous group of hunters sounded surreal and enticing. However, when Zoë proposed an ultimatum of joining the hunters or staying with a boy like Luke, she would never leave her friends, the ones she started with.

"We were informed of monsters within this school institute. We have come to conclude our mission. I would be eternally grateful, if you are not a hinderance to us all Thalia. Now get up!" Zoë looked over the ragged rocks still obstructing their line of vision. The rotor blades of the helicopter ever louder as it neared the cliff.

"I could save my friends by myself. I do not require any of your assistance." Thalia said as she angrily and foolishly got over the ragged rocks.

As she approached Dr. Thorn, blood was evident on her jacket, with scrapes on her elbows and palms. She had scraped herself with the jagged rocks as she climbed over them without care. She had small cuts all over her elbows and palms as the sharpness of the rocks effortlessly slashed and cut her skin.

"Let them go monster. I'm not going to ask again. If I do, you're going to be in a lot of trouble." Once again, Dr. Thorn screeched in laughter which caused the hairs on her neck to stand up.

"You are a reckless child aren't you. This was to easy. I expected to find you myself but turning yourself in was a much safer option. Perhaps, the general will let you live and serve us." A large shining and bright flash was evident in the patch of woods where Thalia had just departed from.

Thalia knew it wasn't Zoë, it was much too bright and much too strong for it to be her aura. It had to be something of immense power. Beside Thalia, Dr. Thorn mirrored her fear and annoyance of outside participation.

"It can't be. No this is a mistake. I expected demigod trouble but not something much greater. Of such magnitude." Thalia, Annabeth, and the Di Angelo siblings looked on as the bright silver flash began to fade slowly.

The flash seemed to melt the snow right off the branches. The most astonishing event was the newly grown bright green leaves on the tree, in the dead of winter. The helicopter was now seen on the horizon, still not close enough to land on the cliff. But still visible in the distance. It would be only a few minutes before it would land and succeed its mission.

"These mortals are too slow. Whoever is out there will reach us before they land." Dr. Thorn astutely said. Without hesitation he roughly grabbed Thalia by her arm and was utilizing her as a human shield, knowing the danger that was lurking within the woods.

An arrow was shot from the patch of woods. The arrow was going at a blistering speed, it was so swift no one comprehended where it came from or where it went. Dr. Thorn felt a stinging sensation on his left cheek and felt dust escape his disguised face. He quickly realized it was the arrow that had grazed his cheek which sliced and burned a portion of cheek skin.

"It can't be. Who sent you? Why are you here?" The monster angrily yelled out. Dr. Thorn looked around in circles hoping to identify where his assailants were located. The increasing paranoia within was slowly distinguishing and removing his superficial disguise which revealed his true form.

The skin of the presumed man turned into fur. His body elongated and stood on all fours instead of erect on two feet. His head was full of hair which eventually grew into a lion's mane. Instead of having a snout of a lion, Dr. Thorn's face remained. The more intimidating feature was the robust and sharp-edged scorpion tail.

"What in tarnation is that?" Bianca looked on horrified at the beast that had just transformed in front of her. Nico looked at the beast with fascination. He fidgeted with his coat pockets as he searched through his cards.

"It's the manticore. This is amazing, apparently he can shoot spikes out of his tail." Everyone with exclusion of Nico, looked on with fear. Nico continued to look from his cards to the monster.

"Cease monster. If you let the girl go, we will make your destruction quick and as painless as possible." Zoë emerged from the forest along with a group of hunters.

Zoë was plenty strong enough to steal all the spotlight. But one female radiated command, dislike, and overall power. She was about twelve or thirteen, no older than Annabeth or Thalia. Her eyes were a silvery yellow color which contrasted well with her auburn hair. Her eyes held seriousness and coldness deep within. Her beauty was unimaginable, with no physical impurities on her body. Her jaw was set and tense as if expecting an argument.

"It's Lady Artemis and her hunters." Annabeth looked on with awe and admiration.

"Great. Just what we needed." Thalia replied with such sarcasm, it earned a distasteful look from Artemis.

"Do not think I am afraid of you goddess. My patrons and king make you look like a simpleton." Dr. Thorn stuttered out. He tried to put on a façade of intimidation and courage, but the goddess could see through his deception.

With extreme quickness and precision Artemis unslung her bow from her back, loaded an arrow and shot Dr. Thorn straight into his front leg. The group looked in astonishment, it was a blur it could be barely seen. Dr. Thorn howled in pain as the arrow was sticking through the muscle of his leg. Golden dust was flowing from the wound instead of blood or golden ichor.

"You arrogant goddess, you can destroy me but not without killing the girl I'm holding." Dr. Thorn was nearing the cliff. He was holding Thalia with his paws as he inched his way near the bear edge of the cliff. The gusts of wind and chilly air from the water easily passed through Thalia's coat which made her shiver.

To make matters worse, the group of demigods and hunters were nearing the manticore. The manticore was getting cornered and was already at the edge of the cliff. When you corner an animal, it does everything to fight back.

"Let her go monster!" Zoë yelled as she had her bow aimed and fixed on the manticore.

None of the hunters had a clear shot at the beast. Their marksmanship skills were almost second to none, but they wanted assurance to kill the manticore. Artemis on the other hand, had her bow aimed at the manticore's forehead ready to launch. She took a deep breath and blew a soft breath into the arrow. She was ready to release.

"If I can't take any of these demigods prisoners, I'm bringing them down with me." Dr. Thorn aimed his robust scorpion tail at the Di Angelo Siblings.

"I can't let you do that!" Annabeth yelled as she leapt onto the manticore's back, momentarily stunning him and obstructing his aim for the siblings. While Thalia slipped away from Dr. Thorn's grasp.

"Archers at the ready." Zoë commanded, which every hunter obliged. Everyone set their bows ready to send a downfall of arrows.

"You cannot not just do that. My friend is on the damn thing." Thalia glared at Zoë with a challengingly look. The rest of the hunters were looking between the quarrel of their lieutenant and the daughter of Zeus.

"I do as I please. Archers Fire!" The apocalypse of arrows flew through the air in an arch as they fell onto their target. It resembled a deadly rain ready to pierce its enemy to death.

Thalia spectated in horror as the arrows, seemingly in slow motion, fell down on her beloved friend. Artemis was rather displeased at Zoë for involving a pass feud to cloud and affect her judgement of putting a demigod in harm's way. But she trusted and believed that Zoë's call was correct and didn't intercede on her own behalf to save the daughter of Athena.

Just as the moment seem to reach its climax and the inevitable death of Annabeth was engraved in stone, a miraculous ball of silver light shielded the manticore and Annabeth. All the arrows that were in the vicinity of the shining white light, disintegrated. Everyone, including Artemis were stunned at the phenomenon that befell them.

"I cannot believe that you were willing to sacrifice a demigod's life to destroy a mere monster. Now that isn't hunting, that is of utmost laziness and lack of respect for fair game." A voice said as a group of individuals emerged from the silver light. The light was searing and torching hot, but it had no effect on the individuals who emerged from it.

The group that emerged was of twelve characters. Their faces serious and withheld apparent hatred for the opposing group of hunters that were on the opposite side of them. Unlike the male hunters, the hunters of Artemis looked at the Hunters of Archer with confusion but still with dislike for them being males.

"I remember you." Thalia pointed to the silver eyed teenager. But was easily pushed aside by Zoë.

"You dare insult Lady Artemis and her capabilities. You wretched and stupid male." Zoë easily insulted Perseus who was at the head of the group.

Altair meanwhile, quickly came to Perseus' defense unable to listen to such disrespect to his leader. "You discourteous female. You huntresses always jumping to ill-advised conclusions."

While the staring contest was going on, the helicopter reached its destination. Well-armed mortal mercenaries let the bullets fly. Bullets were shot and were causing snow to be shot up into the air. All the hunters and demigods went in the direction towards the woods. With the exception of Artemis and Perseus who looked at each other warily.

Artemis with apparent annoyance shot a ball of energy towards the helicopter which easily exploded and was sent it into the water filled abyss. Whilst the immortals continued to stare on, Dr. Thorn jumped off the cliff with Annabeth still attached to his back.

"No Annabeth!" Thalia yelled out as she made her way towards the edge of the cliff. She still had her phobia of heights, but her friend had just fallen hundreds of feet into the raging seas, it was an afterthought.

Altair ran to Thalia's side and began inspecting over the side of the cliff for any signs that Annabeth might have survived, but none appeared. The huntresses warily approached the edge but not before giving Perseus' hunters a look of distrust.

"She is still alive." Perseus answered, who finally broke eye contact with Artemis.

"Can you confirm it Lady Artemis? I do not trust the cunningness or deceptions of these males." Artemis nodded not wanting to verbally acknowledge that Perseus was correct.

"The manticore and the demigod did not reach the bottom of the cliff. They vanished before doing so." Artemis said as she rallied her hunters.

"Count up who is in the vicinity now. I do not want to leave any of our hunters or demigods behind." Artemis ordered Zoë, and she quickly nodded her head in submission.

The hunters of Perseus were sitting down awaiting orders. They consisted of younger teens and unexperienced hunters. Altair had decided to let the unseasoned hunters to gain some experience and see what an extraction mission was when it was planned out. However, this extraction mission was particularly out of the ordinary. None of them expected to find Artemis, Perseus's most hated individual.

"Milady it's the count of three demigods and the satyr. The rest are a part of the group of the male." Zoë pointed towards Perseus who just awaiting and contemplating the next course of action. He couldn't exactly yank the demigods from the goddess of the Hunt. Until Perseus finally broke the silence.

"You sense it Artemis? The creature that is stirring, the one who can destroy the gods." Artemis faced turned into one of annoyance as she looked at Perseus threateningly. She didn't like the sparkle in his silver eyes from the mention of the downfall of the gods.

"I have been slow to realize the circumstance of what is to come. Now I must hunt this old foe to prevent our downfall. However, you seem genuinely unaffected and excited at the prospect of our downfall. I must ask why?" Artemis's eyes bored into Perseus's hoping to extract the information by reading his thoughts and mind. But she quickly realized that entrance to his mind or thoughts were immediately blocked.

Visual frustration was very apparent on Artemis's face as Perseus was laughing internally "Attempting to penetrate my mind to drive me to lunacy already? Perseus noted.

"How is it possible that you can obstruct my sight from interfering into your mind. Are you a god?" Artemis inquired. Her paranoia was constantly increasing as she found new ways this 'Perseus' showed off his power.

The magnitude and sheer heat of the silver light from which he appeared from, was as hot as the sun. The ability to withhold her from penetrating his mind is unheard of, especially for an Olympian. Just from viewing him she could determine that she had never seen him before. Over the centuries she had encountered almost every god (minor or major) on her encounters with the exception of the silver eyed teen in front of her.

"Correct, but specifically a titan." He stated casually. As everyone was eavesdropping, they immediately were on guard. Thalia and Zoë, for once that day, took their weapons with extreme synchronization.

Artemis hoping to surprise Perseus with her blinding speed, grabbed her bow and had an arrow notched and aimed at him. Perseus was staring destruction in the eye. But what confused everyone was the expression of apathy and boredom on his face as he had various weapons fixed in his face.

"You really are a vacuous male. To just say you are a titan and not expect hostility. The titans are our enemies." Artemis angrily stated. She was ready to release her arrow, but Perseus just began laughing.

"You are a hypocrite Artemis. Isn't your mother a Titaness? Isn't your father one of Kronos's sons. Do not dare treat me as an enemy when most of us are direct descendants from the Titans." Artemis's fury developed to another level.

"You have a smart mouth male. I hope it saves you from my wrath." The arrow was released and went directly towards Perseus chest.

Perseus didn't move as the arrow slowed down in his view. The arrow caught on fire midair and quickly fell to the ground in ashes. Perseus's primordial bow, Midnight, materialized in a black smoke into his hand. The bow was of an extravagant black wood which emitted a soft silver glow. Throughout its simplicities, no one with exception of his hunters, knew the power coursing through the man beholding the bow and the bow itself.

"What the hell is going on here?" Thalia asked as she witnessed the small skirmish between Artemis and Perseus.

Perseus had a playful, yet, sinister smile on his face. "Nothing. Artemis and I were just having some fun. Were we not?" Perseus looked at Artemis to see if she would deny and she didn't.

"Hunters set up camp, call the wolves and falcons to keep lookout. I will be in my tent" Artemis immediately created a large tent from thin air and proceeded to retire into it.

Zoë gave one loathing look in Perseus's directions before obliging to her lady's wishes. Meanwhile, Percy gave the order to set up their own camp and to whistle the red foxes and to call the ospreys to be on the lookout.

Nico decided to camp out with Percy's crew whilst Thalia and Bianca headed to the other female camp. Nico was still amazed at the world that was revealed to him, he was living his childhood game. Altair did well to accommodate him into his own tent, but he was still to innocent and afraid of being alone in his own tent.

"Perseus you must not let your emotions get away from you again. Artemis is an Olympian she is dangerous. Not only that, you are already the Titan King's enemy. He tried to persuade to his cause, but you declined. To get on the Olympians bad side is also a death wish." Altair said with graveness trying to convince his leader to settle down, after his little outburst.

"You are correct Altair. Forgive me. But she is the reason my mother is no longer with me." Perseus sat down as if all the energy within him was drained.

Talking about Selene was always a touchy subject for Perseus. He would get angry with any hunter who brought up his parentage. It was still a sore subject, even if it happened so long ago.

Deciding to change the subject, Altair asked him a question.

"What about the male child? Is he a part of our future?" Perseus immediately looked at Altair and began pondering. To be realistic, he hadn't really thought about recruiting another hunter. It had been a few years since it happened.

"I'm not certain of the boy's future. However, we must do our due for a young male like himself and prepare him for the harsh life of a demigod." With that statement, Perseus dismissed Altair and advised everyone to rest.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Percy ventured into the wooded wilderness of Maine whilst everyone slept and rested. The blank white fire the (male) hunters had prepared, had been extinguished. Now he needed time to ponder and rethink his strategies of the upcoming war.

Many of the minor deities he was in contact with, pestered him to join the Titan king's cause. The winning side. But Percy wasn't enamored with the idea of following the orders of a tyrannical regime his relative titan kind would impose.

Whilst he was deep in thought of his situation, he caught a whisper of a voice speaking to someone. Perseus had cluelessly ventured into the woods, lost in thought, and quickly materialized his bow from the shadows in case of impending attack.

"Those are the commands of our father. You must extinguish this beast, or it will be the downfall of us all. Well that's how our father phrased it. I wasn't really paying attention." Whilst the voice was clearly audible to Percy's hearing, he couldn't sense a physical presence out in the wilderness, except one.

"What of my hunters? Where will they go? I do not trust them in your care. You are perverted as the rest of the males that litter this forsaken world." Percy couldn't help but frown. He had a sense that Artemis had no right to group all males as useless creatures.

"That really does hurt me little sister. But the least I can do for you, after insulting me, is to transport them to camp half-blood." Artemis had a look of distastefulness on her face.

"Do no try any funny business with my hunters Apollo. Or I will castrate you. You do know how long that takes to regenerate don't you?" Apollo nervously laughed through the Iris message they were speaking from.

"The message is all clear. As we both know we have an unwanted guest eavesdropping on this conversation. I advise you to take care of him sister." Perseus eyes widened as he tried to flee and escape with his dignity.

Artemis looked around, knowing of the intruder who eavesdropped on a deep conversation sent from Olympus. She automatically knew it was Perseus because it took her so long to figure out the powerful presence nearing her. He was deceptive, he knew how to tone his overall power to fit in with those of minor god.

"I know you are out there. Show yourself. Everyone knows that whoever meddles with Olympus's matter, the punishment is death. Or in your case, a temporary destruction of your body." Artemis said as she pulled out her bow. This immortal was a thorn in her side. She wasn't used to males undermining her, especially one with such apparent disrespect. But something in her mind gave her the sensation that there was a justified cause for him to undermine her and show impudence and arrogance.

"I've never been destroyed, I was born and yet to be reborn. I was always waiting for this moment. To finally battle you, to show my power and hurt I've been feeling since that wretched day." Perseus materialized from a shadow. In the moonlight, his skin was glowing and radiant. It magnified his godly looks.

"Your pride is to great. The mere of thought of you being a capable to battle against me on equal ground is laughable." Artemis couldn't help but smirk. Some gods were just too arrogant indeed.

"Well I haven't come here to battle you Artemis. On the contrary, I deeply care about these demigods. I will fight for them and so will my hunters. However, for you Olympians I have a proposal. In order for me to battle for your cause which in hindsight isn't your downfall, I wish to have one wish to be granted in its entirety. In honesty, I despise every single one of you, but I despise Kronos even more. So, you are the greater of two evils." Artemis laughed mockingly at Percy's proposal.

"That is a steep price to ask of us. I'm afraid the rest of my Olympian peers will not grant your proposal, much less to a titan." Artemis said with pleasure.

"I knew that was your response even before I asked. Shame really. Well I better prepare myself to go hunt for this beast. Its unimaginable power will serve me well when the situation arises." Perseus knowingly began to turn around and walk to his side of the camp. However, he knew that Artemis would concede to his demands.

"The beast is mine to be hunted not yours!" Artemis quickly interceded as the constant extorting of Percy pestered her.

"There are no ancient laws prohibiting me from doing so. So, I do as I please. Is that not the ideology you prideful Olympians so arrogantly display?" Artemis gritted her teeth. Never has she been disrespected as today. A simple titan was getting under her immortal skin. She never had the expectation that a male would have the intelligence, much less guts, to extort her.

She knew that a battle with the unknown titan was foolish. She could be seriously injured if she severely underestimated his power and potential. The only logical option was to concede to his demands, but to not bind or swear that his wishes would come to fruition.

"I will see what I can do. Be grateful I haven't destroyed you. That would have been a much easier option. However, I believe you will be a useful pawn." Artemis finally lowered her bow as she walked back to her side of the camp from the woods.

As she walked back in the direction of her camp she spoke, "Do not believe that we are on good terms. On the contrary, you just created in an enemy in me. The Olympian council will not be pleased for your mercenary tactics. Anyhow, I must go on my hunt tomorrow. My brother Apollo will come when the sun arises, to transport my hunters back to camp. I advise you follow him there until you are called for." With that, Artemis vanished presumably to her tent.

Rest was had for everyone that night with the exception of Percy. In clarity, he had not the slightest idea of why he extorted Artemis. It fueled his arrogance and pride, to finally gain a one up on an Olympian. But his thought process was hazy. He had not the slightest clue what his wish would be once and if the Olympians won the war. His deep lingering feeling was that Artemis and the rest of the Olympians would forget his terms and easily dispose of him once they had succeeded.

Fighting for the Olympians was also something he never believed would occur during his lifetime. He had always been strategizing and gaining the necessary pieces to create his own army of zealots and revolt on the Olympians. Maybe it was all a part of his plan. Make them believe that he was loyal to their cause and when they are severely weakened, strike when the time is opportune. His plan was worthy indeed, but Percy wasn't a sly or cunning titan that would purposefully sever binding promises, or in his case a contract. He was loyal to a fault and he was afraid that he was being hypocritical. Was it just for him to join this side?

Throughout the night he was trying to justify why he aligned himself with the arrogant and careless gods. "It's just to survive. If I don't choose a side, both of them will come after me and what I care for" Percy thought to himself. For the millionth time of many times, he felt lonely. No one present to give him wisdom or guidance if his decision was correct.

"It is the right choice. You will eventually learn to respect them and dissolve of your hate. They might not the best of rulers, but they are the better option of the two. Perseus my child, maybe eventually you could change their perceptions, but only through example of sincerity and goodness. Do not expect change to occur in so little time, for they are ageless. It may take an eternity for them to change or none at all. But do not give up hope my child" A loving and convincing voice rang in his head. He recognized that voice, it was his mother. He escaped his tent and looked at the full moon. The moon lit the night and darkness that befell the earth, and he had a sense that his mother, although faded, still lingered in the moon. The moon's light was magnified more so than any another night he had ever witnessed. His mom was giving him reassurance and watching him…

 **A/N Umm, so sorry for not updating. It was almost a month since I updated, but not exactly. Anyways I finally finished my fall semester and it went pretty well. But of course, my Accounting professor had to ruin my straight A streak by giving me a B+. So, I was really irritated at him for that fact. But I can't complain it went well, exceptionally well actually.**

 **On another note I commenced Drivers Ed which is in the morning so I will still update during this small break. I hope you enjoy the update. I had severe writers block so yeah that explains the slow chapter. It's pretty uneventful and I thought an introduction was justified between Percy and Artemis at this point so yeah.**

 **As you can tell, the next chapter will consist of them traveling to Camp Half-Blood and the capture the flag game. I will try to make it interesting, but I'm awful at describing fight or battle scenes.**

 **Also, for this arc, Perseus will indeed accompany the questers on the quests. But still I'm going to make the quest difficult for them. Some twists and turns may occur I do not know yet. I have to plan that out.**

 **PS: Like always pardon my bad grammar mistakes and sentence structure.**

 **Review and tell me what's going on.**


	11. Chapter 11

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me**

 **Chapter 11**

 ****The morning sun was starting to arise, and its magnificent and warm rays began to reflect on the icy white snow. Perseus did not rest for the night's entirety as he laid in his cot wistfully remembering the pact he made with his enemies. Throughout the night he could listen to the crickets and other wildlife blend in with nature. It gave him a resemblance of peace. While the atmosphere and his surroundings were at peace, his mind was having conflict with each other. Calling himself a hypocrite or justifying his actions as a means of survival. There was nothing he could do now, all he had to do now was let the events unfold.

"Perseus, everyone has arisen from their slumber. It seems Artemis awaits to speak with you before she heads off to her presumed mission. Of course, they were more heavily explicit, and the message was more barbaric and less educated than I'm recounting." Perseus nodded as he dismissed his lieutenant who had interrupted his self-loathing. He ordered Altair to round up the demigod and hunters who were a part of the mission.

His clothes from the previous day were the same. Immortals could change their scent by will and he always decided to smell like an open plain of grass and wildlife. He dematerialized his bow into black dust and proceeded to head out of his tent.

As he and the rest of his hunters made their way to the intangible barrier between both camps, he came to a halt and spotted the goddess of the moon. "It took you long enough male. It seems your lack of respect and ingenuity isn't the only virtues you are lacking." Zoë hastily said. She despised males in general, but those who openly disrespected her lady and had no sense of time were at the top of her list.

"I receive orders from no one. Much less an lost outcast like yourself. You and I are no different. We experience the same solitude of not knowing where we belong." Perseus quickly retorted. The entire female hunter population immediately made their way to attack the disrespectful titan.

"ENOUGH! Stand down!" Artemis yelled out.

"In front of your eyes is just like any disgraceful male out there. Self-conscious and egotistical. Using forms of disrespect to show superiority or the lack of fear. But do not underestimate him, he is dangerous and sly. However, from henceforth, he is an ally to the Olympians and therefore off limits. If you attack him, he will not hesitate to harm you. It was not my wish to be allied to him, I would like nothing more than to put an arrow through his head. But he will be useful, and I will make sure of that." Artemis eyes hid a dangerous glint within them. It pained and angered her to be blackmailed by a male.

However, the huntresses understood her order was final and non-negotiable. They reluctantly stopped charging but were more angered by the playful, sinister, and victorious smile plastered on his face.

Before anyone could speak, a bright and scorching hot vehicle descended from the heavens as it neatly made its way towards the group assembled. The leaves and trees in the vicinity immediately went into flames. Once it reached land, the dirt was charred black.

"Apollo" The hunters and Artemis relayed in annoyance.

It seemed that no one from either group was excited to see the golden child of Olympus. Apollo was just like the sun. Radiant with his extravagant blonde hair and blue eyes. His lavish looks caused everyone to reconsider their significant others. However, like his father Zeus, they both had trouble meddling with many partners.

"Ah yes my favorite group. My little sister's hunter group. How lovely." Apollo moved towards them offering them a hug. However, every huntress knew Apollo's flirtatious tactics, so they intelligently moved away.

"Always as uptight as my little sister. Shameful." Apollo feigned to be hurt. He was oblivious to Perseus and the other set of hunters directly behind him.

Apollo finally turned around and immediately his smile and happy looks disappeared from his facial features. "You are?" Apollo said quickly as golden armor and his bow materialized.

Perseus looked unfazed and apathetic, as he once again was the center of attention. He was about to speak but surprisingly Artemis interceded first. "That is Perseus, a potential new ally of Olympus. I have to bring it to father and the Olympian counsel to approve it." Apollo looked back and forth from Artemis and Perseus.

"My vote is negative. I do not know who he is." Artemis proceeded to roll her eyes as she ignored her twin brother.

"I do not care what your vote is. Your opinion matters not to me" Perseus countered. Apollo's face shifted from emotions of shock to rage. The wrinkles and frown on his face ruined his perfect image.

"You little worthless piece of —" Before he could finish his sentence, Perseus kneed the sun god in the groin.

The hunters and Artemis watched in amazement and renewed joy as the sun god hunched over. Never have they seen someone dare hit Apollo. Everyone knew he was a fool, but a strong fool at that. However, the young titan didn't have a care in the world.

"I really despise being insulted. I also really despise authority, and it seems Artemis used all the insult cards for the next century. So, you are out of luck my dear Apollo." Perseus said as he stood over the stunned Apollo.

Behind him Altair just shook his head at his friend's uncontrolled actions. To have coincidentally found Artemis on this extraction mission was pushing it. But to have both twins present in front of Perseus had twisted his cables and the calm demeanor Perseus always held.

Apollo wasn't too pleased at the latter titan's disrespect. Adding on, to the withholding laughter and serious faces from Artemis and her hunters and his rage was growing.

"You know who I am don't you? Why are you not trembling in fear at the mighty Apollo? I will make you fear me." Apollo said angrily as he got up with immense speed.

"I know Olympians are of immense power. But sometimes that power reaches your head." Perseus said as he calmly walked backwards to gain distance from the sun god.

"This is what you bring to Olympus Artemis? Shame on you, our father will strike him before he reaches the main chambers." Apollo warily said as he knocked a gold engraved arrow into his bow.

The arrow went with immense speed towards Perseus. Like Artemis' arrow he attempted to catch it. But as he attempted to, the arrow burst into a huge fire. The fire engulfed the young titan, as he felt the raw power of Apollo. Perseus came to the startling realization, that if his uncle Helios had not blessed him with his powers over fire and the sun, he would be a charred titan.

Apollo face was full of satisfaction believing he had defeated the rude Perseus. In addition, the hunters of Artemis and herself included, believed Perseus's body was destroyed temporarily. However, the hunters of Archer knew that Perseus was okay, as they held on neutral facial expressions.

Artemis could not believe that Perseus was easily defeated. Her anger grew as she believed that she was coerced by an inferior foe. But her belief quickly changed.

As the flames seemed to ignite more and more, progressively with more heat and power, the flames died at that same instance. Surprise was apparent on everyone's face. The titan was unharmed with no marks of damage or wounds over his body.

The flames extinguished almost as if Perseus had absorbed them into his being. Apollo appalled and shocked from the event unfolding in front of him decided to ask how. "You absorbed the sun's flames and heat. How are you still standing?"

Perseus although undamaged and unscratched, was somewhat exhausted. Absorbing the flames from Apollo's attack was no easy feat. "I have a good relationship with the sun." Perseus stated hoping to further annoy Apollo.

"That is not true. I'm the god of the sun and for the mean time our relationship is strained." Apollo said as he looked at Perseus with newfound interest.

"You were not the only one who was hailed as respected sun deity were you?" Perseus looked onto Apollo who desperately tried to peace things together.

"Enough, it doesn't matter anyhow. Apollo you see how powerful he is. He can be a useful asset to us in eradicating what is to come." Artemis quickly said as started to piece together Perseus's motives and heritage.

"Alright. I was just having fun anyways. You're such a buzzkill little sister." Apollo turned to

Perseus. Deep within, Apollo still didn't trust this mysterious figure. He also wasn't quick to forget and forgive his disrespect. For now, he had to play on with his façade of a playful deity, until the opportune moment to get his retribution.

"Apologies for my rash attitude. Zeus had just given me an earful about a particular event on Olympus. I really hate being scolded like some child. I'm one of the strongest Olympians for Hades sake." Perseus read through Apollo's ploy like the back of his hand. He had heard tales of the misfortunate individuals who felt the wrath of Apollo.

He would feign to forgive and forget. When you were at your weakest point in your life, he would send his wrath upon you without hesitation. Under his perfect, beautiful, and flirtatious image was also immense pride and a sinister wrath. After all, he had sent the bubonic plague that eradicated a large portion of the mortal population.

"You're delaying my departure Apollo. Enough of your spotlight. Now are you going to transport my hunters or not?" Artemis angrily questioned Apollo.

"Yes, yes. I will. I will even transport the wannabes" Apollo pointed to Perseus's group who had taken the plain comment as an insult.

Apollo whistled and snapped his fingers. His sports car that could fit only a maximum of two passengers, elongated and transformed into a school cheese bus. All the Hunters of Artemis lined up in a single filed line waiting to mount the bus.

Perseus and his group packed their things and made their way towards the school bus. The scene looked normal to the mortal eye. A bunch of boy and girl scouts leaving their camping site and heading back home.

Artemis looked back at the two groups as they avoided and stayed away from each other as she mounted her chariot heading for Olympus.

"Well ladies and gentlemen. It's your lucky day. Someone has the opportunity to drive this magnificent ride to camp." The hunters of Artemis look accustomed to his outburst and moved towards the back of the bus knowing the consequences if an inexperienced driver, drove the supernatural bus.

Perseus looked at the transformed sun chariot with respect and longing. He recalled all the instances when his Uncle Helios let him experience and witness the beauty that arose the sun during the morning time. He remembers one instance when Helios let him drive the sun chariot and he experienced how chaotic and difficult it was to control.

Over the years he learned that the chariot could not controlled but rather guided around the heavens and skies. He felt the chariot call out to him as if it remembered the experiences, they had with each other.

"Ah Thalia why don't you drive the magic bus to Camp Half-Blood?" Everyone looked at Apollo with anger. They all knew if Thalia operated the sun chariot, catastrophic events would most likely occur.

Thalia nodded. She was pale with nervousness. Flying the sun chariot required it to be in flight high above in the skies. Her fear of heights was more evident, but she did not want to be teased by Zoë and her huntresses.

She grasped the steering wheel with such force her knuckles turned white. Perseus sat in the front row of the bus hoping to help Thalia guide the sun chariot to the rightful destination. Apollo meanwhile was trying his best to explain the adrenaline rush and amount of fun it was to ride such a supernatural vehicle.

It was apparent that Thalia had no experience with driving a speed demon as she pressed the gas pedal with such force it launched some of Perseus's hunters towards the back and slammed into Zoë and her companions.

Multiple unfriendly insults and swears were thrown to Thalia from both hunter groups. Apollo on the other hand was having himself an event and a laughing fest. Thalia was sweating from nervousness and her driving was erratic and reckless.

"That house is insured. Don't worry about being an arsonist Thalia." Apollo continued as he was unable to contain his laughter.

The sun chariot was going at an insane speed as the city of New York was starting to become visible. Apollo assisted Thalia so the chariot would elevate just enough so she wouldn't burn down the city in which the gods had settled into.

After a minute or two, they were flying over New York and towards Camp Half-Blood. Thalia's knuckles were still white as she grasped the steering wheel. Throughout the entire ride no one had raised the question on how to stop the vehicle. There was no brake pedal next to the gas pedal. You had to stop it with sheer will. Or will it to slow down.

Camp Half-Blood was coming into view with no sign of the sun chariot coming to a stop. The outlooking lake near Camp Half-Blood was shiny and sparkling even if it was cloudy.

"I can't stop it. What am I supposed to do?" Thalia quickly yelled as the Sun chariot neared land.

"Well, you have to have absolute control over it like I do." Apollo said as he showed no signs of assisting the demigod.

Perseus quickly reacted as he shoved Thalia aside who wasn't too happy with latter titan's action. Apollo on the other hand was a little upset that he wasn't going to witness some type of chaos or carnage take place.

The chariot was going too quick for it to be safely stopped on land. So, Perseus logically and willfully slowly stopped the chariot to a manageable speed. Apollo looked at Perseus who was in deep concentration and thought.

With one swift jerk of the steering wheel, the chariot was aiming down toward the lake.

"Titan are you fucking crazy" Apollo said as he disappeared from the chariot with a little fear on his face.

"You're going to kill us Perseus!" Zoë yelled from the back.

"When I encounter you in the underworld once again, I am going to kill you Perseus!" she exclaimed before they crashed into the lake.

 **PAGE BREAK**

From the banks and dry land of Camp Half-Blood all the demigods gathered to see the flaming bus that was descending from the sky. They kept watching as it looked like it was heading towards them. For a second, they panicked until the final moments in which the bus changed its course of direction. It elevated and pointed straight in the sky before changing direction once again to straight down in the lake.

"We have to help the passengers. Let's go." Katie Gardner quickly said as she led her cabin towards the banks of the lake.

As the campers neared, they noticed the school cheese bus rise from the water and shoot itself into the heavens, presumably from where it came from.

The female passengers were the first ones retrieved. The campers noticed Annabeth was not among them.

"I'm going to murder the arrogant fool. He will feel my wrath" Zoë said as she pushed most of the demigods aside who tried to assist her.

Next were the Hunters of Archer who looked delighted to finally reach land. Everyone was wet and trembling from the ice-cold water during the winter. Everyone was handed a towel and huge warm and fuzzy blanket to try to warm their bodies up.

"That is everyone. The Naiads said there is no one left inside the lake." Clarisse said as she was also trembling from the chilly weather and chilly air from the lake.

"Where is Annabeth?" Chiron directed the question towards Thalia.

Thalia shook her head as a tear slipped out of her eye. Chiron's physical features seemed to age more as he heard of the news. Chiron walked towards the center of the bank of the lake. He was the same as usual except with new wrinkles and eyebags on his old, yet wise face.

"We do believe she is alive Chiron. We just need to find her." Thalia said reassuringly.

"We will speak of this later child. In a more private setting." Chiron nodded towards Thalia as he looked at the new guests.

"Welcome back to our camp. Hunters of Artemis. We would also like to welcome our newly found demigods." Chiron stated as he bowed in respect.

"Enough with the formalities Chiron." Zoë said as she ignored the entire demigods and searched around the camp. "Where is Perseus?" Zoë looked at Perseus's group accusingly.

"He teleported away before the full impact of hitting the cold lake" Altair looked at Zoë challengingly, hoping she would attack him.

Before either lieutenant could get a hand on each other, the all too familiar white and silver light appeared out of thin air temporarily blinding everyone. From the light, Perseus emerged without a single strand of his attire wet from the lake.

"How are you dry as the desert?" Zoë immediately asked walking up to confront Perseus.

"I dislike the water and much less Poseidon. You know he is one of the most wrathful and angry Olympians?" Perseus teased and joked to Zoë.

"You little—" Zoë made an attempt to grab Perseus. But the demigods were quick to react and restrained her. It was safe to say that Perseus had gotten into Zoë's mind.

Every single male that she encountered would immediately look away or cower in fear from the hateful look in her eyes. Much of them were submissive and would do as she asked to be safe from her wrath. But mostly, all males simply avoided her, and it gave her a sense of satisfaction. Respect. But Perseus was the outlier of all males. He purposefully was sarcastic and confrontational. He had no care of the consequences with his vocal actions. Which seemed to strike a nerve in her otherwise prideful and calm attitude. The most irritating fact of his disrespect and arrogance was that he easily got away with it. Even her lady realized he was not some peasant to play around with. He was dangerous. But Zoë didn't care, she wanted and deserved respect.

"Enough miss Zoë. You are causing a scene. I do not believe that is an adequate way to lead and portray yourself as a leader to your followers, now is it?" Zoë looked murderously at Perseus. He was toying with her.

But Lady Artemis wouldn't approve of her rash behavior, so she tried as best as possible to recollect and calm herself. "We will be located in Lady Artemis' cabin. In case you need of me Chiron." Zoë violently shrugged of the demigods that were restraining her. She didn't look back as she signaled for the rest of the hunters to follow behind her.

When the hunters left, only Perseus's group and the demigods remained. Chiron looked at the titan with oddity and interest. He believed that those two had never met before, yet, they couldn't stand each other.

Everyone dispersed to their camp activities or to their cabins to do whatever they did in their cabins. Camp Half-Blood only held cabins for the major Olympians, so he had nowhere to stay. Chiron like the previous time had told them to stay in the big house. Perseus for once listened and lead his group to the big house to stay in the free rooms that were available.

He found a room that held two beds and one window. The window curtain was magnificent white, yet, still looked from ancient times. His lieutenant decided to be his roommate on this occasion.

Altair put all his belonging on the bed then proceeded to sit in the bed and analyze his leader. For once in his entire life he noticed that Perseus was exhausted and frustrated. He watched as Perseus paced the room and looked outside the window and proceeded to pace around once again. It seemed Zoë wasn't the only one who was pushed out of their comfort zone.

"Perseus why are we allied to the Olympians. You failed to notify me of this binding agreement. You made me believe that your quarrel with them would never end. But all of a sudden it has? Please explain to me." Altair said as he looked into the silver eyes of his leader and wondered what was going through his head.

"We had to join one side Altair. It was either them or remain neutral through the entire ordeal. Knowing how immortals think of neutrality, I believe we would be the first ones targeted by our lack of loyalty to either side." Perseus stated truthfully.

"But you still hold that deep grudge towards them. Or has that altered as well?" A face of bewilderment and anger appeared on Perseus's face before it was gone as he deflated.

"What can I say Altair? Hate is such an exhausting emotion. You see what it caused me when I spoke with Artemis, Apollo, and Zoë. It causes rashness and absolute disregard or filter of our vocal actions." Perseus said as he laid in the bed looking up to the ceiling of the dusty room.

"What are you trying to accomplish Perseus if we come out of the war alive?" Altair raised his final question.

"Peace. Altair. Peace. It's been a long time since I had the ignorance of feeling good and irresponsible for anyone." Perseus didn't listen to anymore of Altair's words as he fell into a dreamless rest.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Perseus awoke to a loud knock on the door in which he was sleeping in. He immediately unsheathed silver daggers that were hidden near the outside of his legs. Altair was not in the room nor sleeping in the bed. He looked out the window and noticed a multitude of kids gathering for their next meal.

He slowly approached the door and tuned his senses to listen for outside movement. He heard a sigh and the next set of forceful knocks. The door swung open and a pair of silver daggers were met and placed on the person's neck.

"HEY! Calm down. Chiron told me to advise you that meal time has arrived. Plus, our weekly Capture the Flag game is today." The girl said. She had lively green eyes, tan skin, and soft brown hair. She was about a head shorter than Perseus. She wore a lively sundress even in the wicked cold.

Perseus slowly removed the daggers and sheathed them in the compartments on the outside of his legs. He looked to the girl with extreme suspicion. "Your name is?" Perseus asked as he closed the door to his temporary room.

"Katie Gardner. Daughter of Demeter." She said with a soothing motherly voice. Perseus was still at a loss on why she wasn't proceeding on her merry way with the other demigods.

"Understood Katie. Run along now." Katie looked at Perseus rather confused. She understood he sulked in solitude, but why keep on embracing it?

Perseus continued to look into the bright green eyes not comprehending why she would not depart. "Why do you like being alone?" Katie asked. Which came to a shock to Perseus. He was not alone. He had his hunter group, who were like brothers to him.

"I am not alone. You are mistaken." Perseus proceeded to walk to the exit of the big house. However, Katie, kept in stride with his.

"Did someone hurt you?" Katie continued to pry with her unraveling curiosity.

"Nothing you could understand. You are mortal. Your sorrows die when you cease to exist. Unlike me, I continue to feel the same sorrow for eternity." Perseus continued to the door and was going to proceed to open but was impeded by Katie as she stood in front of the door.

"You should stop judging people before you get to truly know them. If you keep pushing people away, you will continue to be alone. And never know what true love means." Katie said as she opened the door and disappeared into the sea of demigods.

"Zoë sent you, didn't see?! Females are as a wicked as they come." However, his yells were drowned out by the cheering of the larger cabins hoisting and carrying their flags to the dining halls.

Unbeknownst to Perseus, Katie did indeed have true genuine intentions for him. Katie was always the optimistic and the friendly type. But she started to become stern because her mother was also stern. The males at camp were always immature and to perverted in her opinion. No doubt following the same traits their fathers and mothers withheld. All the guys that approached her, were aiming to charm her for the fun of it. Disregarding her feelings. Specifically, the sons of Aphrodite who used their gift of their sweet talk to charm their desired females. For now, their tactics were at a ceasefire due to the Hunters of Artemis being present. But she also wanted to win the Capture the Flag game.

Perseus marched his way to where his group was assembled. Which was at the back of the meal line. In fact, all males were at the back of the line. In front of all the males holding them back, was none other than Zoë Nightshade. She was making sure that all females got their lunch before the males. Some of the male demigods were grumbling under their breath but silenced themselves.

Zoë gave him a challengingly look, daring him to confront her. Once all the female hunters and demigods grabbed their meals, it was the males turn. Perseus decided to not grab anything, but his hunters on the other hand, filled their plates to the brim.

"Good evening everyone. We would like to welcome the Hunters of Artemis back to our camp. We would also like to welcome back our allies the Hunters of Perseus or Archer. Choose how you'd like. Anyhow, tonight will present once again the unique opportunity of facing our lovely hunters of Artemis in capture the flag." All demigods gave a collective groan, which seemed to bring a smile on Zoë's face.

"Now, now demigods, that's no way to treat our guests. Adding on to their team will be the Hunters of Perseus." Another collective groan erupted.

"Chiron that's hardly fair. We saw what Altair can accomplish. We would get massacred." Clarisse said as an objection.

Perseus cleared his throat, loud enough for the attention to be diverted to him. "I have decided we do not want to participate on the other huntress's side. We will accompany the demigods on their side for this game." Perseus said as the demigods roared in approval.

Chiron nodded towards Perseus. Perseus took one glance at Zoë and their eyes met. Sheer determination and competitiveness emanated from both veterans of the hunt. Perseus winked in Zoë's direction which only fueled her revenge and determination to win even more…

 **A/N So… I've updated… Finally. This chapter was rather harsh to me. Writer's block was a pain. Adding onto the fact, that I'm a professional procrastinator, it does not aid my case in updating in a timely manner.**

 **Anyhow, I present you the eleventh chapter. I decided to bring a little bit of Katie Gardner because she seems to be always disregarded. I also wanted to dive in a bit into Perseus's confused emotions.**

 **So, let me know what you think.**

 **P.S. Like always pardon my trashy grammar and lack of imaginative writing. But as always I hope you enjoy.**


	12. Chapter 12

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.**

 **Chapter 12**

The entire population within the camp were enjoying their meals. Gorging themselves with energy for the game. Everyone was in anticipation and speculating if with the assistance of the Hunters of Archer, would they finally have the capability to defeat the Hunters of Artemis.

Endless buzzing, talking, and gossip was heard throughout the mess hall of the dining pavilion. It wasn't nothing out of the ordinary except that this capture the flag game (that was going to occur in a matter of minutes) wasn't just a game. Pride was involved for both hunter groups, hoping to realize who had the most potential to be dangerous.

Perseus looked at each steel cold eyes of each of the female hunters. Determination present in their eyes, ready to punish him for his out of the line comments to their lady and lieutenant. Altair and his hunters finally realized they had the opportunity against someone of their same stature. However, the downside to their specific group for the meantime, was the inexperienced hunters he had gathered for the extraction mission.

While Perseus was in a thoughtful and reflective mood, someone decided to break him out of that trance.

"You're going to be participating right?" The all too familiar bright green eyes and beautiful face blocked the entire setting from in front of him.

"I believe so Katie. Now what do you need?" Perseus bluntly stated. Katie visually got frustrated at the defenses Perseus seemed to put up when someone attempted to speak with him.

"Why are you always so moody and sarcastic? Maybe people would try to be friends with you if actually let them." Katie half yelled to him. No one noticed the commotion because of the surrounding noise from the other tables.

Altair and the other hunters decided to be social and speak to some of the other demigods. Some demigods were so eager to get the game going, they began strategizing with Altair. Altair was always the analytical one, so he pointed out their flaws in their plans. But he seemed to be having his share of fun.

"It is who I am. Now please disperse from my presence." Katie reluctantly gave up with a look of hurt on her face.

While Perseus sat there for the following minutes, Chiron's voice finally was heard as he ordered everyone to head to the armory and to ready themselves with adequate gear.

Perseus went into the armory and noticed they had a wide collection of armor and weapons. Some were broken or rusty, basically unable to be used. He reached for the nearest hardened leather chest piece he could find. Perseus had his own battle armor with its own extravagances and power. However, he had never used it. He didn't bother grabbing a helmet to protect himself from getting decapitated. Perseus believed he didn't need it.

His hunters and the Aphrodite cabin assisted the demigod participants, to properly fasten the straps of each armor piece. Everyone wore their hardened leather armor chest piece, some gauntlets to protect their hands, and their battle helmet to protect them from serious head injuries.

Since a few hours had passed since Perseus's delightful sleep, the full moon had arisen and was glowing and illuminating the entire battlefield. Perseus's silver aura began to emanate from him, as the demigods looked at him in admiration and shock. His silver eyes seemed to glow a bit and his tan skin was glowing in the moonlight. His power would only emanate if he was serious about a foe, or his mother was trying to warn him of an unfortunate event.

Once they arrived at the location they were supposed to protect, the horn was heard, and the game commenced. The battle cries of the demigods were heard throughout the forest as they all decided to attack and capture the opposition's flag. Immediately half of the battle cries were drowned out.

On the opposite side of the forest, the hunters had hidden atop the branches of trees and pelted most of the demigods with their non-lethal (still painful) arrows. The rest of demigods had scattered in retreat in hopes of regrouping and making their next assault.

"They'll be back. I'm awaiting one person in particular." Zoë instructed her hunters who nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Perseus knew that attacking the well-guarded and trapped flag of the huntresses was fool hardy and ignorant. So, he patiently sat awaiting with his hunters and the regrouped Ares Cabin for the opposition's assault.

Altair through his binoculars saw the all too familiar silver parkas. "Alright Ares cabin defend the creek shoreline. There is no doubt you will be taken out or perhaps massacred, but you need to delay them and take out as many as possible." Altair ordered as Clarisse nodded and led her cabin to the battle of the creek.

The hunters of Archer meticulously got into archer position on the high ground, on the tree branches. The only one who remained on the ground was Perseus, who was just awaiting Zoë to lose her patience and attack head on.

From the distance in a matter of minutes cries could be heard, swords and bodies knocked against each other on the hard creek floor. The Ares cabin seemed to be holding out because the battle lasted longer than expected. Until no cries could be heard.

Perseus sat on the ground twenty feet away from the flag looking at the beautiful shining moon oblivious to the huntresses surrounding him.

"It seems the time has come to learn your place Perseus. This moment is going to be one of the greatest in my life." Zoë said as she broke the circle that surrounded Perseus.

Perseus however, did notice that not all of the huntresses were present for the assault. He heard arrows whiz past him and into the trees as cries and bodies hopelessly fell to the ground.

"Not a smart tactician I see. We expected your so called 'hunters' to be in seclusion to surprise us. But that didn't work did it?" Zoë was enjoying this moment a little too much.

"One of your greatest moments I hear. Your life has to be seriously disappointing at best. To live such an uneventful life for thousands of years is simply a waste." Perseus apathetically said as he continued to look at the moon with reverence.

"What is your infatuation with moon anyhow? You must have fallen foolishly in love with Lady Artemis. Is that it?" Zoë countered hoping to strike a nerve.

Perseus finally looked away from the moon and looked at Zoë's cold dark eyes. "I have no idea what true love is." Perseus said as he stood up.

"Now my beloved Altair!" The ground from underneath the huntresses collapsed as all of them fell in with the exception of Zoë. However, in order for the plan to work Altair also had to sacrifice himself out of the game as he is fell into the dirt crevice he had created.

Altair had created the crevice strong enough to hold the huntresses for a short period of time. Until he silently and stealthily stepped into the vulnerable part of the of the crevice floor in which he also fell into. The huntress's personal vendetta had been their downfall as they failed to survey their surroundings to look for any outstanding enemies. They had assumed they had taken out of all Perseus's hunters that were located in the trees. But Altair dropped down as soon as the huntresses had crossed the creek.

"Who is the foolish one now, precious?" Perseus mocked Zoë as he gave a low laugh.

"You will still lose. You will have to go through me and the huntresses that are guarding our beloved flag. Now fight Perseus!" Zoë charged Perseus as she unsheathed her hunting knives from her waist.

Perseus skillfully dodged Zoë's first attack. She had gone straight for his neck and he easily ducked and blocked her intended kick to the face. Perseus was unarmed throughout the first barrage of her attacks, which seemed to further anger Zoë.

"Are you too afraid to attack me? Men are cowards!" Zoë said as she threw her knives and unsheathed a sword.

One knife, sliced a speck of Perseus's hair which fell onto the dirt bed of the forest. The other knife was caught in Perseus's hand. He surveyed the knife noticing the worn handles and the engravings of a symbol he's seen before but couldn't recollect where.

Whilst he was distracted, Zoë kept her assault going. Through the distraction she managed to graze a portion of his cheek. A small trace of golden ichor traced down his cheek, but within seconds the wound healed.

Deciding he wanted to no longer toy with her, he materialized a bronze sword from the armory. He had seen the particular bronze sword and noticed it was worn and deteriorated, however, he saw it fit to perfectly humiliate the prideful huntress.

The way he could materialize items through dimensions to himself was a unique power. All he had to do was look at and grasp his full surroundings to effectively transport the item from its location to himself. His bow was a bit different, he left his bow in darkness and in limbo stuck between the dimensions to make sure no one would ever steal his beloved symbol of power from him.

Zoë was swinging her sword in vain as every attempt Perseus managed to dodge. He was smiling throughout the whole ordeal and that frustrated her even more.

"Stop toying with me and fight back, coward." Perseus continued to block her strikes with the bronze sword. At one point he started to swing back, every time he connected with Zoë, he purposefully made it connect with the blunt edge of the sword.

Zoë showed no signs of slowing down which impressed him. She showed tenacity and will power he had never experienced with the exceptions of his hunters.

Finally deciding enough was enough, Perseus feigned to strike her with his sword overhead. She quickly maneuvered her sword to block it. With the opening, Perseus with his free hand, landed a monstrous upper cut. It connected square in Zoë's jaw which knocked her out half unconscious. She landed into the man-made ditch Altair had created to trap the other huntresses.

Perseus wasn't one to hit or toy with females in general because his mother taught him better. But the constant insulting, demeaning, and sense of superiority the huntresses exhibited, led him to teach them a lesson. He also knew that the hunters would despise him for taking it easy on them just because of their gender.

The spectating demigods watched Perseus with shock, as he threw the bronze sword to the side and materialized his bow. He knew there were still many huntresses left guarding their flag, he materialized a non-lethal arrow and slipped it into the dark string of his bow.

The demigods and the huntresses who were eliminated from the game, questioned why he would do such a thing. He was seemingly a good distance away, with no clear shot on his foes to even remotely contemplate firing into the unknown. They looked on through the Iris message that transmitted the entire Capture the flag game.

To Perseus, he didn't need to see, to take down his opposition. He closed his eyes and launched the arrow into the directions the huntresses were guarding the flag. While the spectators looked on, the huntresses who guarded the flag, were oblivious to the arrow that was whizzing through the woods into their direction. As the arrow neared the clearing they were gathered in, it exploded into a black smoke, obstructing their vision.

Perseus vanished with the moonlight and transported himself to the confused huntresses. In their confusion they had no sense of coordination or particular strategy to fight something they couldn't see. That was their downfall. One by one Perseus stealthily neared each one and made them yield once he had them within his grasp.

"I yield." The last huntress said grudgingly as Perseus grabbed the flag and calmly walked back to his side of the creek.

The demigods were stunned for a moment as they could not believe they had won the capture the flag game against the Hunters of Artemis.

Chiron in a monotone voice and pride in his eyes announced, "The Hunters of Archer and Camp Half-Blood are victorious against the Hunters of Artemis. This breaks their undefeated streak." As soon as he concluded his announcement, everyone broke into a boisterous cheer as they rushed to congratulate Perseus.

Some silly demigods went far enough to flaunt their pride of their win in the huntress's face. IT didn't end well as they were quickly sent to their infirmary for moderate injuries.

Whilst everyone was celebrating, Perseus noticed a mummified being with a deathly green glow emitting from its eye sockets and mouth. It slowly and dramatically approached him. The demigods backed away with apparent fear, as if witnessing this particular event was strictly out of the ordinary.

"This can't be." Chiron said as a whisper. There was hidden emotion within his speech, which sounded like fear. He understood Chiron was more of an ancient being than himself, which further annoyed Perseus, that Chiron after seeing many tragedies seem to hold genuine fear of the event that was transpiring.

"Greetings young titan, son of the moon and adopted by the sun. I am the spirit of Delphi. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty python." The mummified mummy said through its agape mouth.

"Approach, seek, and ask." Which Perseus hesitantly obliged as he stepped closer.

"I fear something is of the matter. I want to know what and how I can solve it." Perseus stated, which confused everyone else.

Vivid images appeared in Perseus's mind. Artemis was under the weight of the sky, whilst Luke and Ridley looked on. She was bound by chains in her spot, unable to move, just having the ability to lift herself and hold the sky from crushing her underneath. Lying beside her was an unconscious Annabeth, a white streak of hair present in her illustrious blonde hair.

Perseus heard gasps from hunters and demigods alike, which he assumed was from the vivid images he was witnessing himself. The Oracle interrupted Perseus's vivid imagery when it spoke a prophecy.

 _Seven shall go west to the goddess in chains_

 _One shall be lost in the land without rain_

 _The bane of Olympus shows the trail_

 _Campers and hunters combined prevail_

 _The titan's curse one must withstand_

 _And one shall perish by a parent's hand_

The mummy dropped into the dirt floor…

 **PAGE BREAK**

Zoë was in a dream and she was well aware of it. She was back in the garden of Hesperides, her home. She remembers the open plains of grass and the lustrous gardens, full of flowers. The shining sun warming the atmosphere. Ladon, the hundred headed dragon, was keenly keeping watch and always suspicious of any individual nearing him.

The scene in her dream easily shifted from the beautiful grassy plains to a dark and cloudy mountain top, with many dark deep caverns. It was very windy, and she noticed the tired and now dirty Artemis in the place her father should be. Artemis was in agonizing pain as she withheld the sky, but she always withheld her proud look, the one she had grown to respect.

"Lady Artemis why are you carrying the sky?" Zoë asked as she got on her knees and attempted to get underneath the sky and help her leader bear the weight. However, she seemed to pass through the sky as she was transparent.

"Find me and free me lieutenant!" Immediately she awoke. Zoë got up from the soft cushion of the bed in the Artemis cabin.

A shock of pain went through her jaw. She proceeded to softly touch her jaw and realized it was tender to the touch. No doubt a bruise from the Capture the Flag game. She recalled how Perseus mocked her with every swing of his sword. He purposefully hit her with the blunt edge of the sword to avoid seriously harming her. Damn him and his pride.

Zoë noticed it was still nightfall, which meant it had only been a certain amount of time that she had been unconscious. She also realized that the cabin itself was empty, none of her hunters looking after her, which in itself was odd.

The lieutenant slowly and groggily rose from the bed and stood up. She had to speak with Chiron on the significant revealing of the imprisonment of Lady Artemis. As she walked through the camp, she noticed that most of the campers were in their cabins or sulking for some unknown reason.

Zoë stumbled to the Big House and immediately opened the door. However, she didn't expect a senior counselor meeting to be in session in the rec room. She also noticed that the Perseus was present and leading discussion with Chiron listening intently.

"Well it's nice to have you awake Zoë. We were awaiting you." Chiron said as he pointed to an open seat in the middle of the ping pong table.

"You do not comprehend Chiron. I must speak with you in private. Something terrible has happened" She responded hoping Chiron understood her urgency.

"Artemis has been captured." Perseus responded looking directly into the dark eyes of Zoë. She noticed he was serious and sounded genuinely worried.

"How do you know?" Zoë finally said as she looked away from his eyes.

"I received a prophecy. I'm leading the quest to rescue Artemis." Perseus said as he looked towards Chiron who just nodded.

"You cannot! I'm her lieutenant I should be the one leading this quest." Perseus immediately shot up.

"Set your pride aside! I'm leading this quest and you're assisting." Zoë was silent. She was biting the inside of her mouth.

"Well the questers have been already chosen by Perseus. The group consists of Grover, Thalia, Altair, Bianca, Nico and you included Zoë." Chiron looked at her pointily.

Zoë was ready to object at the choice of companions for this quest. Thalia, although the daughter of the king of gods, was always temperamental as her father. Her attitude made it difficult to work with her. Like her father, she seemed to want authority over the surrounding people and would clash heads with others who challenged her. Grover was hopelessly naïve and timorous to those who he did not know. He wasn't known as much of a fighter and would rather use words than fists and metal to solve issues. Bianca and Nico were the newfound demigods. They were still young and hopeless. Inexperienced in combat and still new to their newfound world. A liability to their cause. Altair, although he didn't look like much, was a male she had a small amount of respect for. He always followed orders and protected those whom he cared about. She deciphered that he was perhaps one of the oldest hunters Perseus had recruited, he definitely did not belong in the current century. Then there was Perseus, the arrogant immortal. His eyes seemed to always glaze over everything, but she deciphered that was all façade. Through his mask, she could see that he was analytical and manipulative. At first, she believed he was just another pushover of male she could beat into submission. She despised being incorrect, but he was someone various individuals should be afraid of. Even those seated on Olympus.

"Why are campers involved? Why not just strictly hunters from both groups? Zoë finally responded. She passively asked the question of why he had chosen inexperience over known quality.

"The Prophecy I was given stated, campers and hunters united prevail." Perseus replied, this time with no lying undertone in his voice.

Perseus continued, "Our goal is to return with Artemis by the Winter Solstice. Chiron has explained to me the Olympians have been preparing war strategies against Kronos. However, without Artemis, talks will lead nowhere. I for one do not want to be ruled by a worse Tyrant than the one we currently have." He finished, as the sky rumbled angrily.

Throughout the entire Senior Counsel, the wine god was asleep, busily drooling over his color ridden shirt. Zoë understood some of Perseus's frustrations with the Olympians and their antics. Sometimes she couldn't believe how Artemis was the only one who seemed to care about the world surrounding them.

For what it's worth Dionysus believed Perseus was just another new year-round camper. He was such a deep sleeper, he didn't even appear to have heard the insult he had thrown towards his father. Olympians and their ignorance.

"We'll leave before sunrise. Around 5 A.M. so everyone should be well rested and ready to commence this long and dangerous journey." Perseus ended. With that everyone adjourned back to their cabins to sleep. The meeting in itself was simple but it was more time extensive than it seemed.

Zoë was still displeased at the choice of companions, but she could not argue since she was not leading the quest. However, one of her hunters relayed the full prophecy to her. Some of the wording sent shivers and fear down her spine, particularly, the last line. _And one shall perish by a parent's hand._

While all of her hunters returned to their Lady's cabin, Zoë decided to follow and spy on Perseus and his doings. She noticed that instead of staying in the big house, he made his direction towards the lake that overlooked Camp Half-Blood. Perseus took off his black hiking boots and socks that he had been wearing. He rolled up his dark silver camouflage pants and slowly walked into the cold water.

Perseus remained situated in the same place for a prolonged amount of time, mostly staring at the full moon. Zoë noticed and knew that he would stay rooted in that same location until it was time for them to depart for their quest. She diligently and slowly walked her way back to the cabin dedicated to her Lady to get as much rest as possible.

 **Page Break**

Perseus slowly saw the moon fade halfway from the sky and removed himself from the cold waters he was rooted in for the duration of the early morning. He had sensed that the lieutenant had been spying on him long before he reached the lake but didn't bother in acknowledging her.

He quickly rolled his pants down and slid his hiking boots on his feet to return to the big house. During the dark early morning, the camp grounds were vacant. It was very different from the buzzing activity his hunters were conducting now at Archer's point. Before leaving the Big house the previous night, he dismissed the hunters that were not involved with the quest back to Archer's point and to alert his other hunters of his whereabouts.

As he entered the Big house, it was devoid of light. Everyone was asleep including the Chiron and the wine god Dionysus. But he could hear shuffling and the closing of a duffle bag in the room he was supposed to be in.

As Perseus opened the door, he noticed that Altair was already up and alert. As he had packed the necessary supplies of food, water, weapons, and tracking equipment for their quest. He had also packed Perseus's bag because Altair knew his leader didn't sleep. He would wander and look at the moon to gather his thoughts or ask for guidance from his mother.

Perseus grabbed the bag Altair tossed to him and swung it over his shoulder. Both of them quickly pulled their hoods over their heads and walked to the edge of the camp where he had told the others to gather.

Before he reached the rendezvous location, he could already sense the aura of Zoë and her impatience. Altair and Perseus walked up and were prepared for insults and yelling from the lieutenant. But instead they received acknowledgment and a nod.

Shortly thereafter, Grover arrived in toll with a drowsy Nico and an overly nervous Bianca. Thalia was the last one to arrive and she was still half asleep. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were droopy as she slowly walked up to the group.

"Took you long enough Thalia!" Zoë quickly snapped which immediately awoke the temperamental daughter of Zeus.

"Not all of us have an internal clock that wakes us up, you know!" Thalia countered. They both were in each other's faces, ready to pick a fight.

"Enough! Both of you are delaying us further. My missions are always a success. I will not have you both ruining that reputation!" Perseus yelled out. Which heightened everyone's senses.

All of them nodded and understood the predicament and the gravity of the situation Artemis and Annabeth were in. They silently agreed to try to avoid arguing for the sake of their Lady and friend. And together they walked into the cover of darkness.

 **A/N Apologies if this chapter is a few hundred words shorter than the rest. But writers block only allowed this much. I had this chapter already half written when I last updated, but that shows you how much writers block I had. I did the capture the flag game I hope it was entertaining enough. I wanted to focus more on Perseus and Zo** **ë in this chapter and hopefully the chemistry they will eventually have.**

 **By the way who's ready for some DEATH! I am. But I'm creating a little twist on the individuals that will be no longer be a part of this world.**

 **Next chapter will commence the quest, that I hope I can conclude it in 2-3 chapters.**

 **P.S Like always pardon the bad grammar and poor fluidity. Comment what you think will happen.**

 **Calypso won the poll for Perseus's love interest early on into this story. For now, I'm leaning that way. But I want to know which one, you readers want, so I'm reopening the poll to reconsider his love interest. NOW its not to say it will change my mind, but I may consider it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: nothing belongs to me**

 **Chapter 13**

It had been a few hours since they had departed Camp Half-Blood. And Already egos were clashing between not only the hunters and huntresses, but between Perseus and Zoë as well.

"You are driving too slow male!" Zoë yelled as Perseus was speeding through the road way above the speed limit.

Chiron had granted their request of using a camp van to transport themselves as far as they could westward. However, Perseus was heading southward. They were nearing the end of New Jersey, almost crossing the state of Maryland. But he was drawn more southward than he was westward.

"You are going the wrong way, you ignorant buffoon!" Zoë yelled again as they came to a rest stop.

Perseus however, had enough of Zoë's insults as he turned back to the group of five who were awkwardly looking around hoping to avoid the tense conversation that was occurring in front of them.

"We shall rest here for a few minutes. Get anything you like from the store, I will pay." Perseus relayed to the demigods and Grover. Altair diligently rounded them up like the chaperone he was and took them into the store.

Zoë and Perseus remained silent in the driver and passenger seat respectively. Perseus closed his eyes which Zoë also mirrored as they both let their shoulders sag. Leading an inexperienced group was going to be trouble and the both of them knew that. Only if they both came to an understanding to lower their bickering would they succeed.

"Why do you care so much for my Lady?" Zoë broke the silence. She was the first one to open her eyes and look at Perseus.

"In honesty I don't." He replied. The answer he was trying to explain to her was complicated and difficult to put into words.

"For my entire existence I believed my purpose would be to take down the Olympians. But after seeing how much Artemis cares about saving demigods and your group, it has changed my perspective." Perseus said.

"But that is only one of twelve that care about others. But still, I will not allow Artemis to suffer such fate. She brings progress to the council. So, I will save her for that reason alone." Perseus finished.

Zoë could only stare at Perseus in shock. The same male she believed was an ignorant, self-centered, stereotypical male actually had emotions. She also noticed that when he spoke highly of someone in a specific regard, he would rub his forearms.

Before they could continue their conversation, Altair opened the van side door and the demigods, Altair, and Grover entered. They both immediately sat up and looked straight ahead. Bianca passed a hot chocolate to her Lieutenant while Altair did the same to Perseus.

Perseus turned to the satyr which surprised Grover. "Grover, where does your nature tracking lead us?" Grover fumbled for a second.

"It's telling us to head to Washington D.C. I don't know why, but it is." Grover said shyly as he looked at Perseus.

"To the District of Columbia, we shall go." However, Zoë wasn't too keen on setting for that course of action.

"Hold it. The prophecy states to go westward." Zoë responded while she looked at the group then to Perseus.

"Well I will heed to Grover's advice for now. Maybe there is something of importance in the capital." Zoë wasn't convinced but she nodded to Perseus accepting his decision.

If they were going to save Lady Artemis she and Perseus had to work as a team, or their mission would fail. And Like Perseus she despised failure.

 **PAGE BREAK**

Perseus parked the car at the nearest convenient spot, regardless if it was a parking spot or not. They were now in Washington D.C, and they had agreed to check up on one of the structures lining the National Mall. Grover pointed to one in specific, claiming that an energy was attracting him to that specific spot.

Unbeknownst to the group a black sedan was circling the block the building was located in. They circled around a few times before parking a few feet away from the national mall. It was the same creature that escaped the grasp of Artemis and the demigods, it was Dr. Thorn.

Dr. Thorn had an earpiece situated in one of his ears as he spoke into it and proceeded to walk into the building alongside his mortal mercenaries. However, instead of entering the same side entrance the group used, Dr. Thorn headed to a different direction.

Perseus could feel a heavy gaze that was burning the back of his head. He could feel a faint sense of a non-mortal being tracking him. The rest of the group was oblivious to the danger.

"Zoë, I leave you in charge of the group." The rest of the group turned to Perseus with confusion apparent on their faces, including Zoë.

"Where are you going?" she asked. However, she didn't receive a response as Perseus sidestepped into the small crowd that was leaving the building.

Perseus blended in with the small crowd that exited the building and followed the faint non-mortal scent to its owner. For being inconspicuous, Dr. Thorn stood out like a sore thumb. The small group of mortal mercenaries crowded him, surrounding all his vulnerable points of attack.

They entered a museum which seemed to be vacant and not the center of attention. The Museum of Natural History was the name of the building, as Dr. Thorn entered with his group of mortal mercenaries.

They emptied into a huge chamber full of prehistoric items. Multiple dinosaurs' skeletons and bones were neatly arranged over their display. But what caught Percy's attention was the second story balcony full of mercenaries keeping watch with their high-tech guns. Fitted with heavy vest and even bullet proof helmets.

Those were no threat to Perseus. After all, mortal bullets had no source of celestial bronze infused with them so they would merely bounce off his skin. Almost as if his skin was made of metal and unable to be penetrated.

Two dracaenae, monsters with two snake-like trunks and hideous faces were situated on either side of Luke. Luke in between the two monsters, was situated on the right side of a makeshift stone throne. And Ridley the son of Kym was situated on the left of the throne. Contrary to Luke, he looked well nourished, well rested, and no signs of his life being drained from his being.

Luke appeared that he been through Tartarus and back. His eyes were still the same and held that same glint of anger he proudly held when he betrayed his friends. His eyebags were very evident due to the lack of sleep. His hair that was once a sandy colored blonde, now looked deathly white.

None of that spread fear or paranoia into Perseus. Rather it was the being leisurely sitting on the makeshift throne that spread fear into him. The being was hidden from view, so Perseus couldn't detail his physical features.

"Did you perform the task I asked of you?" A deep and chilling voice resounded from the chambers almost in an echo.

Dr. Thorn didn't appear to be afraid, but Perseus could smell and almost taste the fear Dr. Thorn was having inside his being.

"The demigods are here. Accompanied by Artemis' lieutenant and the other individual you spoke of." Dr. Thorn relayed as he revealed his two set of different colored eyes.

"This is good. Where are they?" the mysterious man said.

"The Air and Space Museum" Luke interrupted Thorn before he could reply.

"Well it's our duty to get rid of them. So, I'll go with Luke and complete the job." Ridley said as he turned to the man on the throne.

"I think not. You need patience young one." The man got up and now Perseus could tell he who he was.

He was none other than Atlas, the General of the Titan Army. He was taller than all the individuals present within the chamber, including Perseus. His skin held the same light brown complexion just like his daughter. His black hair was combed and slicked back to make him look more professional than he actually was. His brown suit looked expensive, obviously tailored and fitted for his huge and broad shoulders. His eyes were gray like smoothed stone and his face was intimidating and sported the same prideful look his daughter showed.

"I will also not send you Thorn. You failed to get the correct girl. And we ended up with the useless daughter of Athena." Atlas scolded him as he began to pace around the chamber.

"General if I could explain –" Atlas didn't let Thorn utter another word, as Atlas' eyes were enough to tell him that he his excuses were not viable.

"A simple task and you couldn't even complete it. That is why you will not be a Commander within Lord Kronos's army. You have not only failed a single task; you would not be a viable leader within our ranks." Atlas said as he punched a wall within the chamber. Immediately the wall was pierced by his inhuman like strength.

"Now Luke, we must isolate and break their group apart. We must guide the daughter of Zeus for our plan to succeed." Atlas looked at Luke.

"General but what about the hunters and that wretched leader of the nomadic male hunters." Luke said through gritted teeth.

"I have a perfect solution for them. Although, the nomadic male leader will be more of a problem to deal with. Perhaps I will have to conduct the job personally. But that will be at a later date when our plans have come to fruition." Atlas said as he pointed at one of the guards.

"Do you have it?" Atlas asked and the soldier nodded.

The soldier casually walked to the center of the chamber. The oddity of the center of the chamber was that it was all stone and marble except the exact center was dirt. Perseus watched as the guard had a pot in his hand and withdrew white teeth from inside the pot and planted them into the soil. He used his feet to even the dirt he had stirred to make sure the soil was even as he was told to do so.

Perseus looked at the General who had a sinister smile on his face. Before looking back at the guard. Perseus then had the daunting realization of what was about to transpire.

The guard looked at Atlas and he simply nodded as the guard fetched some water into his pot. He watered the dirt where he had planted the teeth. Except it wasn't water that he had fetched. Within his pot, it was a dark crimson liquid that came out like a miniature waterfall from the clay container.

The soil began to bubble, almost as if it was boiling the things planted underneath.

"These beauties make everything looked insignificant my dear Luke. Even your troops on your little boat." Luke was about to protest but was silenced by the wave of the General's hand.

"Behold these terrifying beasts and kneel before me" Atlas said.

The soils upper surface began to break, and a skeletal hand emerged first. There were twelve white teeth planted in all and that meant that all twelve would rise.

"Give me a scent." He ordered the mortal mercenary who gave him a silver piece of what looked like a coat.

Atlas held the silvery fabric with disdain. He turned it over before diverting his attention back to his emerging fallen soldiers.

"Once they catch the scent of this fabric, they will follow it till no end." Atlas said and the skeletons looked at him almost knowingly, knowing that he was the one in charge.

Atlas walked up to them and tossed the fabric for the skeletal warriors to smell. These warriors weren't ordinary. They were growing flesh unevenly all over their skeletal bodies. The skin wasn't ordinary as their skin was gray and their eyes where shining yellow, almost like a light itself. They were wearing urban camouflage with grey muscle shirts and with their combat boots.

They almost looked human, but their skins were transparent and translucent. Each skeletal warrior took turns smelling the scent before turning their eyes to Perseus knowing that he was the one eavesdropping.

Perseus slowly backed away knowing he had to alert his group.

 **K**

Zoë was starting to lose her patience as she was led in circles by the satyr within the museum. On top of that, she couldn't believe Perseus would just abandon them to do his own adventure without chaperoning the inexperienced questers.

"I lost it." Grover broke the silence as his eyes looked anywhere but Zoë's.

"You what –" Zoë was about to commence a few sentences full of curses before she was pushed aside along with the group.

Zoë looked at Perseus who had returned, his face with a small hint of worry. He looked like he was a in a hurry as he easily pushed the questing group out of the museum. Zoë however, stood in place in defiance.

"Don't touch me" She said as he held her stance unflinchingly.

"We have to flee now!" Perseus said as he was about to grab her but was immediately slapped in the face.

"Why? What did you see?" Zoë stood in place with her arms crossed looking at Perseus demandingly.

"Spartoi. The General summoned Spartoi. Twelve of them and they are pesky and relentless beings. They are a danger to you since you are a mere half immortal." Perseus replied as he tried to hurry them out.

"You underestimate me." Zoë responded.

"I do not. I'm underestimating our group. Specifically, the young demigods." Thalia walked up to Perseus threateningly almost looking like she wanted to fight him.

"I'm the daughter of Zeus, they should be afraid of me and not the other way around." Before Perseus could respond they were interrupted by screams of mortals fleeing the display room the group was hidden in.

The twelve Skeletal warriors aggressively pushed the retreating mortals aside as they made their way to the group. One of them held the silver fabric that belonged to Zoë. They marched in unison in one straight line.

"These things are amazing combatants. One of the best, if not the best close-range monsters you will ever face. I suggest you keep your distance." Perseus informed the group.

The twelve skeletal warriors stopped a few feet away. Zoë had her bow already drawn with an arrow strung to the string. Thalia reached into her pocket and pulled out a collapsible mace canister. When she pressed down it elongated into a full bronze spear. She continued by tapping her bracelet which became Aegis a shield that had the face of Medusa embedded onto it, with its main purpose to cause fear into its opponent. Altair proceeded to unsheathe his Imperial Gold sword deciding he was more comfortable with hand to hand combat. The Di Angelo siblings, although inexperienced, decided to bring out their own weapons. Bianca had decided to carry a bow on the quest, as that was her choice of weapon. Nico was given the generic celestial bronze sword.

Percy brought his fists together in a horizontal motion. Just as he brought his fist together, he hurriedly separated his fist in the same horizontal motion and materializing was a celestial bronze Dory with a silver cloth entangled around the entire wooden shaft.

"I guess we make our stand here." Thalia broke the silence as she looked at the yellow glowing eyes of the skeletal warriors.

"This battle should be taking place later not right now." Percy replied as he got into his battle stance.

The skeletal warriors watched the group exchange words before half of them unsheathed swords that they were given to by Atlas. The others began to break off sharp bones from their translucent rib cage to use as weapons. Both groups looked on watching who would move first.

"Charge!" Thalia yelled as she charged the skeletal warriors.

"Thalia wait –" Zoë tried to grab Thalia, but Thalia shook off Zoë's grasp.

Perseus realized the predicament and the rash decision Thalia had taken and quickly tripped Thalia with the shaft of his spear. Thalia tripped and landed on her shield but thankfully nowhere near close the skeletal warriors to finish her off.

"You little–" Thalia's words were cut off when the skeletal warriors charged, and Perseus swung his dory in a whirlwind clipping three skeletal warriors. The warriors fell back but got up unfazed from Perseus's attack.

"Protect the siblings at all cost." Zoë yelled as they left the Di Angelo siblings on their backside.

"No let them fight and battle. The best way to prepare yourself for death is to face it." Perseus replied as he kept five skeletal warriors at bay with his spear.

Percy was swinging and connecting on all his attacks, but the Spartoi continued to reassemble and continue their siege on the titan. Perseus wasn't on the offensive, rather in a defensive stance looking for a way to end this battle as quickly as he could. Whilst he had a large reserve of endurance and stamina, it wasn't so for all of the individuals within the questing group.

Grover was playing his reed pipes and large roots began to break the marble floor of the museum. The roots being controlled by Grover began entangling some of the Skeletal warriors.

"Good work Grover." Perseus said as he realized that this was the best option to escape unharmed.

From the edge of his spear Percy channeled his Uncle's powers and harsh strong flames began flowing through the tip of his spear and engulfing the skeletal warriors. The skeletal warriors were feeling the wrath of the sun but even so, they seemed to be immune to pain as they continued their assault on Perseus.

Grover had captured the remaining seven skeletal warriors with the robust roots and vines he had summoned with his nature magic. The Spartoi were already working on their escape, but the roots and vines were thick and a hinderance to their movement.

Perseus deciding that it was no use as he was unable to destroy them decided to drop his spear and summon his midnight bow. With quick rapidity and precision, he launched balls of energy that hit all five Spartoi. The Spartoi disintegrated into pieces but were already beginning to reform. The pieces of the skeletal warriors were engulfed by a white flame by Perseus's bow. The flames were inextinguishable, but they had no effect on the Spartoi as the flames were easily put out.

"Grover capture them and trap them. We need to leave now. We cannot destroy them, we can only hope to slow them down." Perseus said as he made his way to the group.

Zoë's and Bianca's barrage of arrows were no use as the Skeletal warriors looked like porcupines with the multitude of arrows embedded on their rotten flesh but seemed to have no effect on them. Altair was protecting both Zoë and Bianca so they could have clear shots and not worry about being blindsided. Nico had fought admirably proving to be a prodigy in terms of swordsmanship proving to hold his own against two skeletal warriors. Thalia had fought alongside Nico covering him from any blind spots. Aegis proved inefficient as the skeletal warriors looked at the shield in the eye and proved to be unfazed and continued their attack.

Grover continued his nature magic and managed to capture the remaining skeletal warriors. As soon as the last one was covered in vines and grabbed by a robust root by the midsection, Grover collapsed in exhaustion. The battle had only lasted perhaps about twenty minutes, but nature magic proved to be draining in energy.

The group made their way to the tired Grover. Perseus grabbed the tired satyr and threw him over his shoulder, carrying Grover in piggyback form. Grover was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Everyone realized that without Grover's assistance they would have been in serious trouble.

"You did well Grover." Perseus said. Grover gave a smile to him. The satyr looked at the group and gave a big huff before falling into a much-needed sleep.

"We must leave now." Percy said as he made his way to the exit and the group obliged and followed him outside of the museum.

The group ran to the van unknown to them was Dr. Thorn's mercenaries following in pursuit but looking overhead from an attack helicopter. Percy looked up and realized it was them, the van would be of no use, but they had to use the van to gain as much distance as they could from the skeletal warriors and themselves.

Percy let Zoë drive the camp van and she was just as reckless in driving as Thalia. They had a few close calls when Zoë almost rear-ended multiple cars and ran most of the streetlights on red. She seemed to have no respect towards mortal laws as she almost ran over a pedestrian who was out jogging and doing their morning routine.

"They're still following us." Bianca advised to the group.

"Perseus we won't lose them in this vehicle. We must go underground." Altair replied as he pointed to what looked like an empty subway station. The group abandoned the van in the nearby parking lot and made their way towards the station. Miraculously it was still in service as they took the next train that was heading southward to Virginia. As soon as the train resurfaced, they saw the helicopter hovering above the abandoned camp van and mortal mercenaries going through the entire van and finding nothing.

"Well at least they don't know where we are." Thalia said as she began to close her eyes.

Misfortune seemed to always arise because not even ten minutes later they heard the familiar noise of the helicopter once again.

"You really had to say something" Zoë rolled her eyes to Thalia.

"Different train?" Bianca asked looking at Perseus who nodded.

The group switched trains various times losing count until they had reached the end of the route of the train, they had finally decided to settle in.

"Last call. I repeat this is the final station for this train, vacate immediately." The train operator's voice could be heard through the intercom.

It had been a few hours since they had been in D.C and Grover was now awake albeit still exhausted. Once the group returned to the surface outside of the station, they realized they had ended up in what seemed a city full of towers and construction cranes. Industrialized factories and buildings were all around them as they walked to another rail yard that seemed to be full of train cars, but they were rusted and were covered in several inches of snow.

Perseus noticed that the entire group was trembling shivering, and their lips were beginning to shrivel from the severe cold and wind of the winter. Even with their three-in-one coats the camp had provided from the shop the group was still freezing cold. Zoë seemed used to the weather as only her lips were beginning to crack but she seemed unaffected from the cold as she wasn't shivering.

Percy decided to give his jacket to Nico who seemed affected the most by the cold. Altair mirrored his action by giving his coat to Bianca. Both Perseus and Altair were only wearing a silver long-sleeved thermal shirt. Perseus was immortal and therefore wasn't affected by the weather. In addition, if he ever did feel cold, he could warm himself by using the warmth of the suns flames that were manifested within himself.

"You will be cold." Zoë broke the silence as she noticed the kind gesture towards Nico.

"I will be fine." Perseus responded as he looked around and was trying to gather his bearings on where exactly they were located.

"You know if you're really cold you can come and hangout with me." A raspy voice said from their right side.

The raspy voice had come from a homeless man that was situated beside a steel barrel near the train tracks with a nice and warm fire blazing.

With the warm fire, the group's complaining lessened about the cold. Their focus shifted to realizing they were nowhere near the West Coast which caused more anxiety realizing their quest was nowhere near its required location.

"Well we are on the outskirts of D.C but nowhere near the west coast." Thalia said annoyingly as she looked at Perseus.

"Adding on, we're suffering from the frigid cold and we could die out here just because someone wanted to become a tourist." Thalia's teeth chattered.

"Our trip to D.C was not in vain." Perseus replied as everyone looked at him including the homeless man.

"Relay your findings Grover." Perseus looked at Grover who nodded slowly.

"The nature tracking magic I was using had caught on to Lady Artemis' previous whereabouts. She had been in D.C at one point in her travels." Grover said as Zoë looked on with renewed hope.

"I lost her presence though, but I caught onto the scent and presence of a separate entity. I think it's the beast Lady Artemis was hunting. And I could feel that presence call me westward." Grover finished.

"Oh, so this is what it's about? Finding transportation to the west coast?" The homeless man interrupted as he showed his yellow and rotting teeth. The man was wearing a beanie with his oily hair flowing to his neck from under the beanie. The beard was tangled and savage like as if the man had never heard of hygiene. His eyes where blue which was the only out of place characteristic from the man. He was also wearing dark and wrinkled pants and his coat was a heavy olive-green trench coat. His hands were covered with fingerless gloves.

"That train over there should do." The homeless man pointed to the only train with no signs of rusting and not covered in snow.

The train was well maintained as it was glossy even in the severe thunderstorm. The train had three levels to it, which was all for car transportation. Only one freight car seemed to be of one level and held seats and the necessary accommodations for human transportation.

"That should do. Thanks–" Perseus broke off as he noticed the homeless man had disappeared. All that was left was melted snow and the lack of fleeing footprints from the homeless man.

The group knew they were trespassing so using the passenger freight train was not an option. Percy broke the lock of one of the freight trains that carried luxury cars and helped every member of his group climb up and was the last one in as he closed the metal sliding door. Surprisingly the interior of the freight train was warm, and the keys of the luxurious cars were hung on a locked glass display case. Percy broke the glass case with ease and let the questers choose their car to dwell in for the meantime.

The questers chose the car they liked the most and it was a dream for all them to actually have the chance to be inside such cars. An hour later and the trains engine was heard, and they were bolted into movement. Fifteen minutes into the ride and the group were traveling closer westward as fast as the train could go.

 **A/N Sorry! Please don't kill me for promising to write frequently after school and exams, but well that never happened. I'm not going to make an excuse like the previous times for my inexplicable absence and lack of updates. Call it writers block or just focusing on real life things, but I finally updated. It's been a wild ride throughout this story, and I feel like it's all over the place. But after rereading it myself yesterday I decided that I had to update because I promised to do so and will hope to update soon as possible.**

 **Thanks for sticking with me and like always forgive me for my poor grammatical errors and poor sentence structure.**

 **-DDS**


	14. Chapter 14

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: PJO AND HOO DON'T BELONG TO ME.**

 **ALSO DO NOT READ THE AUTHORS NOTE TILL THE END OF THE CHAPTER.**

 **Chapter 14**

The metallic screeching and constant metal clinking of the train was heard from the commencement of the trains journey to its finish. It took nearly an entire full day for the train to ease to a stop. The questers decided to keep to themselves and rest for the entire train ride. The cold and frigid weather had taken its toll on them. Adding on to the fact the group had an unsatisfiable hunger that made them run through their food supply rather quickly.

As they opened the sliding freight door of the train car they were greeted by inches of snow and the same chilling cold air they had experienced In the District.

"You've got to be shitting me" Thalia interrupted the silence as her teeth chattered.

"What expectations did you have? The season is winter" Altair responded as he was shivering despite being somewhat immune to the weather.

To make matters worse the town they had arrived in was rather small and didn't provide any clues to why they had been brought towards this specific location despite it being closer west. The small buildings they did have were topped with inches of snow. The streets were surprisingly devoid of snow but look no further to the sidewalk there were hills of snow shoveled aside perhaps by the civilians.

There was no form of transportation. It was more like a tourist attraction for individuals who went skiing which explained the immense amounts of snow and why the town was located close to the mountains. No local buses, trains, or cabs passed by which further proved that the questing group was stranded perhaps in the middle of nowhere. Only the Welcome to Cloudcroft sign hung proud and pointed out where they were actually located.

Silence enveloped the group after their mini conversation. There was an awkward tension between the group. They had been travelling for a short while and they still hadn't developed a sense of trust between one another. There were cliques within the questing group. Zoë and Bianca were banded together and developed what little trust they had because they were connected through the bond of being Huntresses of Artemis. Percy and Altair stuck together and could communicate with each other because they had been brothers by bond for centuries. That left Thalia and Nico as outcasts. The only thing they had in common was that they didn't belong to either clique.

Despite this assumed tension the tension was broken by Nico's stomach grumbling due to being hungry. The entire group looked at the ten-year-old boy and the awkward tension was broken as the group began laughing.

"At least this little town in New Mexico has food to feed us." Percy said as he pointed to a small café that looked like a hole in the wall. He had also spotted a small grocery store which could help them replenish the little food they had packed. Despite this as the group entered the business, they felt the warmth of the heater and coziness and comfort of a home.

"It's Friday. The winter solstice is in four days. We need to reach San Francisco as soon as possible." Zoë reiterated her uneasiness. Artemis had saved her countless times and had taken her in after she was betrayed by the worst species on the planet, males.

The Group of seven were squished into a small table as the waiter took their order and proceeded to leave them to get their drinks of coffee and Hot Chocolate. Despite being completely lost in the town of Cloudcroft, all they knew was that they were only a few states away from California and that eased their tension significantly. However, that didn't lower their sense of urgency as they scarfed down their food and Percy paid the bill as they exited the small family owned business.

As they continued to walk and try to find another form of transportation Percy stopped dead in his tracks as he felt something was extremely off.

"I can smell the dead." Percy relayed to the group as he looked around trying to pinpoint the enemy's location.

"That's not the only thing I can smell and sense. You can smell and feel It can't you satyr?" Percy questioned Grover as he awkwardly shifted from one foot to another and hastily nodded.

The rest of the questers were confused as they looked around and seemed to find nothing remotely threatening except the excess snow. That was before they began to see a group of police officers' approach them threateningly and menacingly. As they neared the questers their disguise and skin began to tear away and revealed the dreadful gray, translucent dead skin, and yellow lantern eyes of the Spartoi clothed in the same battle combat gear they wore in the District of Columbia.

"Just great. I was starting to like New Mexico." Thalia whined as she held her spear and Aegis in a defense position.

"Stop your whining Thalia you should know that this is accustomed to every demigod's life." Zoë scolded her as she unloaded her bow from her back and notched an arrow pointing at the skeleton warriors.

"You could never grow too old or tired for fights, can you?" Altair asked Zoë as he unsheathed his gladius and held it with two hands.

The Di Angelo siblings pulled their weapons respectfully and proceeded to get back to back. Perseus on the other hand knew these monsters were rather unkillable. They belonged in the underworld or in Tartarus none of the domains Perseus commanded or ruled. Therefore, he himself couldn't banish nor permanently kill these monsters which only further frustrated him.

The entire group's peripheral vision was clouded with utter darkness that enveloped them, courtesy of Percy. As Percy reached through dimensions and reached his bow from limbo the darkness dissipated and instead the darkness was being emitted by the bow as it seemed to drown the light of the sun.

"Now you're serious. You haven't pulled that weapon out since the meeting with Artemis at Westover Hall up north." Thalia laughed.

"Extreme measures call for extreme solutions." Percy responded as Altair merely laughed at his leader's response.

However, before the group could engage against the annoying and pestering skeletal warriors the serious thumping and the trucking of multiple skeleton bones were flying through the air. The beast was a behemoth. Towering at about thirty feet tall and moved with extreme agility and speed. The most fearsome feature of the beast was it tusks the size of large canoes.

"It's the Erymanthian Boar, take cover!" Percy yelled as the boar focused its attention to the group and the young titan.

"Perseus what is that legend of a beast doing here? It hasn't been seen since Hercules bound it with chains during his twelve labors" Altair yelled through the entire commotion.

The name Hercules seemed to deter and shake Zoë's concentration as she looked like a deer in headlights as the boar charged at her. Percy picked her up with his heightened reflexes just in time as the boar nearly clipped the both of them with one of his tusks. However, Percy was indeed clipped on his left bicep as golden ichor trickled from the torn sleeve of his left arm.

To make matters worse, although the skeleton warriors were trampled into pieces by the boar they quickly began to reform. The boar didn't pick sides as he continuously charged at both the Spartoi and the questing group.

"We have two things to worry about. Which threat should we focus on first?" Zoë recollected herself after untangling herself from Perseus and noticing his small gash on his bicep.

"The boar is important and a blessing, it's a gift from the wild. It just doesn't just miraculously appear out of thin air after its been centuries since It was last seen. It was sent by someone." Grover said.

"Alright you heard Grover. We must divert the boar's attention to the Spartoi." Perseus relayed to everyone as they began to yell and try to obtain the boar's attention.

Bianca stealthily attacked a skeletal warrior and stabbed it in the back and surprisingly the bones combusted into flames and the monster turned into dust. Everyone was amazed at how Bianca could kill one skeletal warrior and keep it from reforming. But Percy's hunch proved to be true about the Di Angelo siblings.

"What? How did you do that?" Zoë questioned as she closed in on Bianca.

"I don't know." She responded dumbfounded.

Grover was playing a tune through his pipes that seemed to distract and lull the boar temporarily taking its attention from the group and focusing on the skeletal warriors who continued to reform. The boar continued to mash the skeletons, but it quickly turned its attention to the group as it came rushing towards Thalia who pointed Aegis to its face which only further infuriated the animal. As the boar closed in on Thalia she barely rolled over and dodged the deadly tusks but not before scraping her hand on the cold and salted concrete.

"What the actual hell? Some blessing from the wild. Why is it trying to kill us?" Thalia asked Grover as she got up.

"Well that's the point it's trying to kill us cause its wild!" Grover interrupted his tune to respond and the boar charged at him and he nimbly was able to avoid it.

Percy fetched inside the quiver of arrows and brought a utility arrow. As he aimed for the boar's legs, he launched the arrow and it quickly burst into magical self-tying ropes. The ropes wrapped themselves around the boar's hind legs and the boar lost its balance and tripped face first into the solid asphalt. The asphalt cracked from the impact which launched a few large and thick pieces of asphalt in all directions which miraculously fell on top of the reforming Spartoi.

The bones of the Spartoi where struggling to reform under the solid asphalt pieces on top of them. But that wasn't going to slow them down forever. Perseus gathered the rest of the group and made sure none of them were severely injured which in hindsight proved to be true much to his relief.

"We must kill this monstrosity." Thalia said as she paced around the boar. The boar snorted loudly as if daring the daughter of Zeus to try.

"No, we can't!" Grover interrupted. As she put himself between the boar and Thalia.

"Well its dangerous we can't leave it here either. It's a danger to the mortals. To them it might look like some tornado launching things left and right. But it poses a threat to them as well." Nico astutely yet shyly said to Grover.

"It's our transportation West. You saw how quick the thing was. It can cover a lot of ground." Grover was grasping at straws trying to convince the group. It actually worked as Percy though it to be a great idea.

"How will we guide it?" Percy asked Grover hoping he had come up with the solution.

"Just like every animal. We trick it with food." Grover intuitively responded. He climbed the boar's back much to the boar's unwillingness.

Grover proceeded to rummage through his packed bag and pulled out a thick and long piece of wood and proceeded to tie a string at the end of it. He once again rummaged through his backpack and pulled a round and plump apple and proceeded to tie the loose end of the string to the apple. His self-made contraption seemed to work as he maneuvered it over the boar's nostril. The boar's attention was immediately captivated as It tried to get up and follow the smell of the apple that happened to be directly in front of his nose.

"Brilliant plan Grover. Now climb onto the beast one by one" Percy looked to group as he was the last one to mount. Percy proceeded to snap his fingers and his magic induced rope dissipated into thin air.

"That was Pan, the Lord of the Wild's presence." Percy said to the group, Grover smiled and nodded.

"That's why it's a blessing." Grover added.

Realizing that he was no longer tied up and able to move, the boar began following the apple as Grover maneuvered it where he believed going west was. And Grover proved to be correct in another regard, their transportation was fast.

 **Page Break**

The snowy mountains and hills went by in a blur as the boar seemed to defy physics. The boar seemed to lose attention and desire for the apple as it reached deep into the desert full of sand dunes in Arizona. It focused on the prickly and green cactuses that littered in abundance within the desert. The boar easily ripped the cactuses from the sand and chewed on them unaffected by the prickly sharp needles.

"Well it's time to disembark while his attention is elsewhere. Or we'll have issues we don't want to face at the moment." Grover broke the silence from the vast and empty desert.

From the distance the group could see an immense array of abandoned items in the middle of nowhere. The oddity to not only seeing these items was the fact that they were humongous, greater in size for the average individual to wield or use. There were odd structures that littered the dense desert but most looked abandoned. The only structure that look inhabitable and looked like it was still in business was a taqueria, but the business seemed to be closed.

"Maybe that's our next clue." Thalia said as she pointed to the abandoned lot of experiments.

"Alright let's go." Percy responded as he began to pace towards the junkyard.

However, before such actions could continue, they were interrupted by the honk of a vehicle miraculously driving through sandy terrain in the desert. The vehicle was a white pristine limousine that seemed to defy the difficulty of driving and maneuvering a car on the sinking sand. The windows were tinted which only further confused the group of questers.

The limousine eventually stopped a few feet away from the group. The atmosphere and surrounding emotions dampened and became more violent and aggressive. As the tinted door opened Perseus dreaded seeing the battle-hardened war god. Ares' attire was different from their last meeting. He was wearing a leather jacket, with a white t shirt, black leather pants and black boots. Ares materialized a sword in his right hand and made a threatening motion to Percy. However, Percy was also quick with his instincts as his twin double-edged swords appeared in his hands.

"Perseus what are you doing?" Zoë asked as she saw the thicker individual play with his sword mockingly. However, Percy disregarded her question.

"Is your pride still hurt Ares?" Percy asked mockingly as he began walking towards the war god. Ares began pointing his sword towards Percy challengingly.

"Now boys, no need to fight." A melodic voice interrupted them and grasped everyone's attention with her voice and her extreme beauty.

The goddess of love exited the limousine. The goddess was wearing a nice thigh cut red satin dress that provoked the male eyes, the perfection of the goddess's face was inexplicable. Goddesses in general were beautiful but not of such magnitude. The beauty of the goddess of love was second to none and Percy now understood why. The makeup blended in perfectly with her skin tone and just added definition to the already perfect facial features. However, the goddess's eyes, hair, and facial features seem to shift as Perseus began to think what he actually thought was beautiful. Percy was seeing her with auburn hair yet with black eyes. Percy could tell it was a combination of both Zoë and Artemis which made him feel all the angrier adding to the already violent and tension filled atmosphere because of Ares.

"Aphrodite." Perseus acknowledged her through gritted teeth.

"Why so displeased? You are quite the looker and charmer aren't you." Aphrodite teased and easily flirted.

Aphrodite circled Percy as he stared unflinchingly into the love goddess's ever changing eyes. Aphrodite licked her lips flirtatiously which were red due to the lipstick. Percy realized how difficult it was to repel her advances. He wanted her and his masculinity was yearning to please her. But alas he was able to repel her which seemed to frustrate the goddess.

"Not an easy one. One of the few to ever refuse me. How dare you?" Aphrodite ask whiningly.

"I have a duty to carry out. Love is an afterthought. I could care less about such atrocity and despair. You should know, a war was almost fought over your hand in marriage." Perseus responded as Aphrodite could only smile reminiscing and loving the attention.

"Very well. Anyhow I was testing your resolve. Artemis had told us about you, an unknown yet powerful titan. You may not like me, but I will make sure the game of love is in your immortal life you have that assured." Aphrodite replied. Ares and the rest of the group meanwhile were spectating the entire interaction.

"If that is what you wish. Proceed I don't think love is an emotion I will exhibit to anyone." Percy replied as Aphrodite merely laughed at his response.

"Oh, you'll see. Love is in your midst young titan just you wait." Aphrodite began to retreat back into the limousine. Ares realizing it was time to leave decided to also return into the car.

The limousine door closed, and the entire group sighed a sigh a relief. However, before the limousine left, the car window lowered, and Aphrodite spoke one last time.

"Beware my husbands' junkyard. The items may look useful, but they malfunction and often times are cursed. So, don't touch anything unless you want to die a horrific death. Well those who don't have the gift of immortality." Aphrodite said as she looked at the group of questers with the exception of Percy.

The limousine sped away in the sandy and rough terrain and disappeared into the chilly night. The group stood silent for a moment before looking at the titan questioningly. Percy ignored them and began to set up camp for the night. He and Altair set up the tent and sleeping bags so the group could rest. The group silently agreed to let the interaction between the titan and Olympians to go unnoticed.

"We will explore the junkyard at sunrise. I will take first watch." Percy said to no one in specific as he produced lumber from thin air and proceeded to conjure a large flame in his palm and creating a fire to warm the group.

The group fell asleep almost instantly. The warm flame Perseus had produced, provided a satisfying warmth adding into the battle scars of battle and fatigue of travelling so far in little time also contributed to the rapidity of their instant sleep.

The next day Perseus awoke them and tossed the entire group a breakfast bar. They broke up camp and packed their lingering materials into their bags. They followed Percy to the large junkyard of the god's creations in silence.

As they roamed through the junkyard, they could only marvel at the immense and cool looking items considered trash by the gods. Perseus reminded them to not touch anything. The last thing he wanted to do was lose anyone on a quest given to him. Yet the line of losing one quest member in the land without rain resounded in his conscience which created an unusual paranoia within him.

"So, what exactly are we supposed to be looking for in here." Nico interrupted the silence as he got awfully close to some dangerous looking contraption.

"Nothing. I distrust Aphrodite but I will heed to her warning of Hephaestus's dangerous inventions. We are traveling further west. The sun rises in the east. Therefore, we are travelling in the opposite direction which is west." Zoë explained to the young demigod who was content with her response.

The group was nearing the end of the junkyard. They passed hills and mountains of scrap junk that seemed to be unused. Perseus thought it could be highly useful to make armor and weapons for his hunt however he brushed that idea aside remembering the dangers of being a thief.

They marched on and reached the end of the junkyard and the group stopped at the near exit of the failed experiments exhibit. The scrapyard began shaking dangerously including the ground as scrap, tools, weapons, and instruments began being launched in every direction.

"Who took something?" Thalia yelled at the group.

The group looked at one another and no one spoke up which further frustrated the daughter of Zeus. The mountains and hill of metal began to collapse and rising from under the heap of metal and experiments was an automaton the size of skyscraper. The automaton was encased and protected by full battle armor. In its right hand was a bronze sword, the length of Mack truck and storage container.

"It's a replica or protype of Talos the guardian of Crete." Altair deduced as the huge automaton turned its attention to the group.

Perseus quickly sent bursts and balls of energy towards the automaton that struck him straight in the chest. Talos tipped over, however as quickly as it fell, it rose from the scraps again. The machine swung its sword in an arch and the group dodged and rolled away just in time. The sheer force and impact of the strike caused huge gusts of wind that knocked Nico and Bianco off their feet. As Talos lifted the sword, the strike left a huge crevice in the ground where the questers were standing not even a minute ago.

"Perseus destroy this pestilence." Zoë yelled as she helped Bianco to her feet.

"I cannot. I'm limiting my power. If I were to use my full power with no limitations it would incinerate the entire team. I will not do that." Perseus replied as Zoë could only clench her jaw.

"There! Near his foot. They look like controls" Bianco pointed out. The group looked at each other and nodded understanding that they had shut it down using the controls.

"I will go to the controls." Altair volunteered as he appeared next to Percy's side.

Altair caught the automatons attention as he notched arrow after arrow hitting Talos but the arrows bounced harmlessly off the automaton's battle armor. Altair had the machine's attention as he ran deeper and deeper inside the junkyard. He was trying to get the danger as far away from the group as possible. He knew he could take down the automaton on his own. And he knew Perseus should be the one protecting the rest of the group with his supernatural powers.

Perseus witnessed his lieutenant run farther and deeper into the junkyard as a terrible and pestering feeling was eating away at his heart. Altair looked at ease and seemed to have fun distracting and fighting an enemy that towered over him. Which reminded Percy that he was the best and most powerful hunter he had ever trained. All these emotions began to leak into conscious and he didn't know why.

Until he noticed that at the automaton began to start emitting smoke and fire from its upper body. Altair was oblivious to the lingering danger. Perseus and the group ran as fast as they could to alert the hunter of the impending danger.

"Altair!" Percy yelled to his lieutenant to grab his attention.

Altair turned to his leader and gave a thumbs up showing he had control of the situation. He loved and enjoyed fighting alongside his leader. Percy was like a brother to him. As Altair stopped a few feet away from his enemy to smile and reassure his leader that he was going to beat this machine, the automaton burst into flames and exploded….

 **A/n There's a cliffhanger for you guys. Well that's another chapter that I have been wanting to write for a while. It's like I didn't want this to happen to good old Altair, but death is something a story need don't you think. Percy's longest tenured, strongest and most loyal soldier has fallen. Be Prepared for more death in the next chapter. Also I know that Talos didn't explode in the book i'm just putting my own twist to the story so i hope you guys understand.**

 **P.S I know I'm late I suck at making promises like I really do. But I still hope, you my readers stick with me until the end. Just like Altair did.**


	15. Chapter 15

**The Hunters of Archer**

 **Disclaimer: PJO AND HOO DON'T BELONG TO ME.**

 **Chapter 15**

"One shall be lost in the land without rain." Percy reiterated one of the lines from the prophecy as he stood in place staring at the spot, he had last seen his lieutenant.

The rest of the group members searched and searched in the junkyard of the gods and found no traces of Altair. The blast must have been of such strong annihilation it had destroyed Altair's body into oblivion. The only remaining clues of what had occurred to the lieutenant of the male hunt was the large surplus of glass that now covered half of the scrapyard.

Percy's extreme reflexes had created an invisible barrier to deter the raining sharp glass, heavy metal, and remaining shrapnel of the explosion that was tossed in every direction. Some glass had shattered when it hit the titan made forcefield. Lingering experiments that had survived such destruction and lingering scraps of metal is what remained around the junkyard.

Percy continued to search around the location of where the explosion had occurred looking for anything that would keep alive the memory of his brother and longest tenured soldier. As he tossed metal aside and crushed glass under his boots, he found a glint of a metal that sat in the sand.

The titan ran towards it not responding to the lingering shouts of his quest members who followed close behind. As Percy picked the ring from the sand, he began dusting it from the sand particles that had been stuck to it. He could sense that his aura was still embedded within the ring which had most likely kept the ring from also being destroyed. Percy began tracing the smooth silver metal around the ring and traced over the moon and star engraving that he had crafted onto the ring.

The group looked at the titan worriedly. He had not spoken to them since the explosion which wasn't saying much since the titan barely talked to them at all. The only ones he talked consistently too was his lieutenant and Zoë. Zoë for once had a look of genuine worry and kindness towards the titan as his back faced them.

"What is that?" Nico asked quietly somewhat afraid of a hostile reaction from Percy

The titan remained silent for second as he reminisced on the ring. A single tear came out of his eye. Percy fitted the ring on his left ring finger. The ring was a little slimmer, but it expanded through its magical components and kept a snug fit on Percy's finger.

"It's former lieutenant Altair's ring. To show the rest of the hunters that they not only responded to me but to Altair as well." Percy finally responded as he dropped his hand after inspecting it for a period of time.

"Oh" Nico responded as the group once again grew quiet. The tension was rather off-putting. No one dared to tell Percy it was time to go or that the quest was still in play.

"It's time to go. We must finish this quest. I will not let Altair's sacrifice nor death be in vain." Percy broke the silence as he walked through the cursed junkyard and the rest of the group on his heels.

They found transportation about a few hundred yards outside of the junkyard. It was what seemed like a tow truck. However, the truck itself was going through the worst case of rust as the entire vehicle's paint had been chipped away and had begun to turn a copper/brown color. Miraculously the car was functional as the engine revved and purred to life. The tank was full of fuel which Percy deduced some divine intervention had put this vehicle in the middle of nowhere to assist the group.

As Percy looked in the sky, he noticed how clear and bright the day had become unlike early morning where they had roamed the junkyard. The early morning proved to be cloudy and Percy should've known it was a bad omen.

The group lumbered into the car and began driving and grabbed the nearest visible road they could see. The car was silent, no background radio or music was playing within the truck which only furthered the heavy air within the car.

"Who took from the junkyard?" Percy questioned. His voice had no hint of resentment or any hidden emotion for that matter.

Each quest member looked at each other. Nico looked guiltily at Percy as he was looking at the young demigod through the rearview mirror. In hindsight, Percy hadn't known who had taken from the cursed ruins, but he didn't place any blame on them either. He had chosen this group to accompany him to rescue the goddess of the hunt, so any death or tragedies strictly fell on his shoulders and not on his quest members.

"It was me. I wanted to get the last mythomagic figurine I needed for my set." Nico shakily reached into his pocket and pulled out a small figure the size of his palm.

Percy inspected the figurine and a small hidden smiled crept on his face. He didn't blame Nico he couldn't. Nico didn't know such tragedy would occur and entail the downfall of Altair. The demigod was only ten but he knew that Nico felt guilty and possibly responsible of the event that happened.

The car began to make some odd noises as it began to slow down even though the titan was flooring the acceleration pedal. The truck began to emit smoke from the front of the car. Percy exited the car and opened the hood of the car and realized the radiator was defective and it was irreparable.

"We will have to walk from here." Perseus told the group as he closed the hood of the car with such force all four tires blew out.

Zoë looked on ahead and noticed a steep cliff about a few hundred yards in front of them. She realized even if the car hadn't broken down, they would have had to ditch the car regardless because the road had reached a dead end.

Grover looked over the edge of the cliff and noticed a long and winding body of water. No too far down the cliff was a canoe shop that would be able to take them upriver. Grover being a satyr began the climb down the rocky formation.

"Come on it's safe. Just follow where I'm placing my foot and hand holds" Grover began to yell from below.

Thalia looked like she was ready to puke, and her arms were starting to sweat as she began to rub them on her pants to wipe the moisture out of her hands. She placed her hands on her thighs and began to hyperventilate as if climbing down the cliff was the worst thing in the world. Which in her case, proved to be true.

"Sounds like a sound plan. But I will take an alternate route." Percy said as he looked at Thalia.

Thalia looked thankful. But before anyone else could deduce what was going on Percy picked Thalia up and threw her over his shoulder. He proceeded to run and jump off the cliff. All that could be heard for that brief period of time was the daughter of Zeus' mortified screaming as Percy and Thalia plunged to the rugged ground. As they landed, the ground crunched and cracked beneath Percy's weight.

He dropped Thalia on her rear end as he looked up towards the cliff and noticed the group was climbing down through the indentations of the cliff as quickly as possible. Possibly not trying to be another victim of a huge scare and panic like Thalia experienced as they plunged into the unknown.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I thought you had figured out I was afraid of heights. I trusted you when you said we would find a different route." Thalia yelled at Percy who looked unfazed at the accusations from the daughter of Zeus.

"It was a lie. Anyhow a daughter of Zeus, her father the lord of the sky and everything that inhabits the sky is afraid of heights. Are you even his daughter?" Perseus asked as Thalia's face turned completely tomato red from sheer anger.

"What gives you the right to even question that? Do you even have children? I bet you have hundreds. All you immortals are the same, they could care less about their children." Thalia finished as she looked teary eyed.

Percy felt guilty for bringing the demigod to the brink of tears as he didn't respond to her for a brief period of time. However, Thalia looked at him expectantly still hoping for an answer. She had a rough life not being able to rely on her mortal parent as she was an alcoholic and now dead due to a car accident. Her father while seemingly being the king of the gods, failed on so many levels. A few of those faults were not caring and being there for Thalia, she hid and felt a deep resentment towards her father.

"I've been celibate my entire existence. So, I don't know what having children feels like. But I could tell you about my mother. How she treated me. Just by looking at her and judging on appearance alone she looked cold and distant. Seemingly, not affectionate or passionate about her duties as a mother. But she was the total opposite. She loved and cared for me like I was her only child. She trained me like the little soldier she wanted me to become. She taught me how to be calm and how to survive on my own. She was my entire existence." Percy trailed off as his throat felt like it was constricting.

Thalia looked at Percy surprised. She seemingly believed that all immortals were the same in the fact they had such an exorbitant arrogance, apathy towards other, and the highest degree of self-preservation. But she turned out to be correct for the most part, that was until she met Percy. At first, she believed he was just like any other immortal. But he has shown selflessness unlike other immortals by accepting the quest to rescue Artemis. Although he was a titan and immortal, he had a high degree of morality and seemingly had emotions. Maybe not all immortals were the same after all.

"Who was your mother?" Thalia asked tentatively. The way Perseus talked about his mother made her sound otherworldly almost as if she never existed. He talked about his mother with such longing and veneration it was almost as if he worshipped her.

"It's not like you would remember her." Percy responded scornfully and defensively.

"I still want to know who she was, she sounded wonderful." Thalia pushed as the titan eyed her skeptically.

"My mother was–" Percy was interrupted by the group dropping down beside them as they had finally climbed down safely from the cliff.

"My hands have blisters. I would have rather had Percy jump off the cliff with me as well." Nico said as he examined his hands.

Percy turned his attention to Nico before ruffling his hair. Nico smiled not used to physical contact of someone other than his sister. The group continued on their journey as they made their way near the side of the slithering river that didn't look all that impressive. In total to cross the river was only about fifty yards but the length of the windy river is what intrigued Percy as they could finally escape the forsaken desert.

As they neared the canoe shack, they realized it was rental based service. Another misfortunate batch of news was that the owners or rather employees were nowhere to be seen. The shack although rather small proved to be well kept with a large array of canoe paddles outlining the wooden walls. The canoes themselves weren't lengthy only fitting a maximum of three passengers. Which meant that they would need two canoes instead of one.

"Hello!" Thalia yelled through her hands that she cuffed around her mouth.

"Nobody is here." Nico assured her as the lights were completely off. Percy had to break the door open. Which for him was rather easy as he kicked the entrance open with his supernatural strength.

Percy dug into his pockets and fetched a roll of dollars bills and tossed them on the nicely polished service desk. He looked around and chose the sturdiest looking canoes as he slung two canoes, one over each shoulder.

"Everyone else get a paddle." Percy ordered as he made his way out the winding river and planted the canoes on the smooth body of water.

Percy looking closely into the body of water noticed two naiads swimming near the canoes. They smiled at Perseus almost flirtatiously and didn't seem to leave the proximity of the canoes. The titan frowned as he couldn't comprehend why they were not moving on or melting back into the body of water. Were they not going to let him travel on this specific body of water? Impossible, they didn't serve Poseidon directly as they weren't water nymphs born from the sea.

"Grover come her." Percy beckoned the satyr to the river.

"Can you speak to the naiads?" He pointed to the water spirits to show the satyr where they were located.

Grover looked at Perseus confused. He shook his head almost accusingly noting the ignorance of the titan. "I can only speak to other animals and some monsters. I can't speak to water spirts, well understand them."

"They are useless Perseus ignore them. Let's mount the canoes." Zoë replied scornfully as she neared the river.

As soon as the huntress was within their distance, the naiads shot water directly into the huntress' face. The water spirits seemingly smiled and began to laugh mockingly at the expense of Zoë's misfortune. Zoë in response began to unsling her bow and began to notch in arrow to murder the conniving water spirits that was before Percy put his hand on her bow and looked directly into her eyes and shook his head.

Zoë hesitantly lowered her bow and slung it over back and looked at Perseus through her red eyes. She looked almost regretful of a past event. As the two descendants of titans had an argument silently a piece of a paper was shot from the water with exquisite writing and message on it.

Percy picked it up and read the message:

 _Perseus,_

 _I have ordered these naiads to take you as far as upriver as they can go. You will reach Hoover Dam which is as far they will seem to go because of the monstrosity blocking their continued river. The skeletal warriors are still following the female lieutenant's scent. Which means they are most likely going to encounter you. I have to keep my message short, so they aren't discovered. This as much as I can help._

The message was read by each individual group member which questioned who their secret helper could possibly be. However, Perseus already knew the answer and he had renewed hope that the individual was not brain washed and still was on his and the Olympian's side.

"Well let's get going. We need to reach Artemis as quick as we can." Percy said as they hopped on the canoes. The naiads began to push the canoes upriver with extreme speed.

 **Page Break**

The group was already walking through the top of bridge that disconnected both sides of the rivers. They had no idea exactly why Hoover Dam was so important exactly. The group however did know they were starving and decided to grab some food from the food places the attraction offered.

"That was dam delicious." Thalia joked as Bianca and Nico couldn't help but laugh at the joke.

"I want some more dam food." Nico replied before busting into another fit of laughter.

"I do not understand why you children are laughing." Zoë said as she continued to hold a confused look.

The young demigods began to laugh at the expense of Perseus and Zoë as they didn't seem to understand the jokes. However, their joy was short-lived as a group of five individuals began to mirror and follow their movements.

"We're in dam trouble." Percy said unknowingly as he didn't exactly get the gist of the joke.

"Nico and Bianca front lines. You are the only ones that can defeat these monstrosities for good." He detailed as the young demigods got on the front lines although hesitantly.

The skeletal warriors began to detach bones from their ribcages and charged at the Di Angelo siblings. Grover began to use his nature music as the skeletal warriors screeched at the sound of the satyr's reed pipes. Zoë continued to pelt the skeletal warriors with bows to the point the spartoi she was focused on looked like a porcupine. Perseus summoned two balls of flames on either palm of his hand and began throwing them at the spartio who easily caught fire and disintegrated but began to reform slowly.

"Now Nico stab it and destroy it!" He yelled to the young demigod.

Nico complied and stabbed the pile of dust and the skeletal warrior didn't attempt to reform as the dust began to blow away from the windy conditions and altitude of where they were battling.

"This is a waste of time, we either lose one of our quest members by continuing to fight these pests or we can flee and continue our quest to find Lady Artemis." Zoë yelled through the commotion of the fighting.

Percy looked at Thalia who returned a look in confusion. She shrugged her shoulders knowing Percy wanted something. "Pray to your father. If he really cares for you, he will save you and the rest of our group."

He ran towards the daughter of Zeus and put himself in front of her protectively as a skeletal warrior neared them. Thalia sat on the hard concrete and closed her eyes and began to murmur which Percy assumed was her method of praying to her father. The titan balled his fists and punched the skeletal warrior's skull and the skull shattered into pieces. However, although headless, the decapitated skeleton still charged the titan but in vain as Percy summoned his spear and swung it and crushed the ribcage and sent bones flying into various places.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Angelic statues begin to come to life. Six in total began to fly to the group and Zoë began to shoot them with her arrows believing them to enemies.

"Don't! Those are from my father" Thalia yelled at Zoë. Zoë immediately lowered her bow and lifted one of her arms as one of the angels extended Its arm and picked her up in flight with its stone wings.

The others followed her example and the angels plucked the quest group into the sky. The Skeletal warriors looked on knowing they could not fly and would not be able to do anything but follow the group to their next destination.

"Brilliant Thalia." Bianca laughed through the cold winds as they were in the air.

"It was all Percy's idea. He made me test my father and my father actually came through." Thalia smiled at the titan and Percy returned the smile.

The rest of the group climbed onto the wings of the statues that were brought to life because the strain of their weight was hurting their arms as they flailed as the angels continued their flight. They could see themselves distancing themselves from the Hoover Dam and the entire state of Nevada. Soon they were gliding over the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges in California. Being winter the group could only shiver from the cold gusts of winds and the low temperatures from flying at such high altitudes.

It was a few hours before they were dropped onto the busy San Francisco docks that harbored small fishing boats. The sky was grey casting a forecast of rain. The wooden dock itself was darker than its original color which had signified that it had indeed rained before the group had arrived.

The stone angels didn't seem to have the ability to speak as they only made hand motions to communicate with the group. Unable to understand what they were trying to communicate they decided to ignore the angel statues. They saluted to the daughter of Zeus before drifting off in flight back to the Hoover Dam in Nevada.

"I know this place." Percy said recalling the meeting with Kym about a year ago. The meeting in which she had decided that Kronos' side offered the most stability and the likeliest chance to win. She wanted safety something Percy couldn't provide.

"We're not supposed to be this far west. The titans influence is strongest here because of Mount Orthyrs which is located in San Francisco." Grover said as he was biting his fingernails.

"Makes sense keep hold of your prisoners where you source of power is greatest." Percy agreed as he began to pace on the wet docks.

"Kym told me that Nereus roamed these docks in San Francisco. He is not only an old sea deity but also has the power of omniscience even knowing information that not even the Oracles of Apollo know." Percy said as he began to look around for the old and seemingly forgotten sea god.

"Kym? Kymopoleia the daughter of Poseidon? What are you doing speaking to such a power craving goddess?" Zoë said a little miffed.

"She has given me vital information." Percy didn't elaborate as he heightened his vision scanning the docks.

He scanned and didn't find nothing out of the ordinary except a group of homeless individuals lingering around the edge of the docks. However, he could feel the aura that was more ancient than himself lingering and roaming amongst the unimpressive unfortunate homeless people. One in particular stood above all of them in height yet having a round and full to the brim gut. The man had a yellow beard that had been at one-point white. Wearing pajamas in broad daylight with a bathrobe on top making it seem like it was Christmas. Which in hindsight was only a mere few days length away.

Before thinking Perseus began running and launched himself on the back of the homeless man expecting to take him down with ease. Although, unaware the homeless man proved to have supernatural strength as he attempted to shake Percy of his back.

"So, it is you Nereus." Percy said through gritted teeth as he struggled to maintain his grip on the slimy and stench filled god.

"Who are you?" He responded as he began shapeshifting into various marine animals trying to loosen the grip of the titan.

"That doesn't matter. I have one question." Percy responded to Nereus as he had become a seal full of slimy fat. The seal looked determined as he once again returned to human form.

"Alright Alright! Let me go and I'll answer your damn question. You immortals just want to take everything by force" he yelled as he began inspecting his ripped bathrobe where Perseus had sunken his hands to maintain his hold on the sea god.

"Where is Artemis imprisoned?" Nereus couldn't help but laugh.

"That beast in the water that has been following you throughout your entire journey knows where. But I will answer it fully because you had hold of me for such a long time, I couldn't believe I wasn't able to shake you off. She is being kept in the mountains where her father used to carry the sky. Back you return to the Garden of Hesperides." Nereus pointed to Zoë who visually paled.

Just as Percy was going to ask where exactly that was located, Nereus had vanished into thin air. Zoë looked visually shaken as if returning home was the worst possible outcome she could've thought of. Percy knew that a Hesperide had been banished from the garden as she failed to protect her home and the Tree of Immortality which grew Apples of Immortality.

"So, it was you. The one who assisted Hercules obtain one of the apples of immortality." Percy inquired as Zoë merely nodded.

"A foolish and naïve mistake. I trusted that fool because I still had an attraction to the male species. I hadn't known that males were so treacherous and conniving liars." Zoë spit out with distaste.

"For that I had to flee to escape the wrath of my sisters and my father. They banished me when they found out of my treachery. That is why I'm always indebted to my lady Artemis. She took me in when no one would. IF we must return to my home in order to save my lady we shall go. I still remember the path to the garden and mountains." Zoë concluded.

The water began splashing from the edge of the nearest dock and the group went to investigate It as they noticed a bull serpent casually whirl around within the water. The bull serpent noticing the attention was on her decided to poke her head out and begin mooing like a cow.

"She says they're coming. The evil ones. She also says she's been waiting for us at these docks for a few hours" Grover translated serpent bull to the human tongue.

Percy ignored Grover's warning and analyzed the bull serpent as it continued to slither in the water. This was the beast Artemis was hunting. He smirked, everyone had believed the bane of Olympus would be some secret and ultra-offensive weapon in the form of a monster. Instead it proved to be a harmless yet powerful monster that was the cause of Artemis' capture.

"This is the bane of Olympus?" Thalia looked at the creature skeptically.

"It's not a violent creature. The way to obtain its power is to sacrifice it and burn its remains." Zoë explained to Thalia who continued to look at the harmless creature disbelievingly unable to understand how it had the capability of having such power.

"We must hurry. We cannot travel with such risk. We must transport it to Olympus. It is in Poseidon's realm, which is dangerous and full of monsters in the deepest of waters. We must offer something to guarantee safe passage to Olympus. Grover you will be its companion." Percy finished as the satyr hesitantly hopped onto the bull serpent who has happy to have a friend.

"Poseidon, I offer you my blood, grant these two travelers' safe passage to Olympus." Percy finished as he materialized a hunting knife from thin air and cut open his palm and let his golden ichor flow into the body of water. The Golden ichor immediately was consumed by the water which meant Poseidon had accepted such a drastic offering.

Just as Grover and the bane of Olympus disappeared a group of mercenaries blocked the entire pier and docks with the all too familiar manticore leading the way. The face of Dr. Thorn scrunched in frustration as he realized his mission of retrieving the Ophiotaurus had failed.

"You're too late manticore." Zoë broke the silence in the tension filled standoff.

"Maybe. But we also have other plans to accomplish." Dr. Thorn responded as he looked at Thalia and even the Di Angelo siblings with renewed interest.

"Demigods, that Ophiotaurus is very important not only to us but also to those wretched Olympians. Those Olympians that have abandoned you and have only used you to complete your quests. With the Ophiotaurus any of you demigods can be granted the power to destroy those proud gods. You still have a chance to catch up to the –" Dr. Thorn didn't have the chance to finish as the Percy had materialized his bow and shot an arrow which shattered and destroyed the manticore as it turned to gold dust.

The mercenaries looked at what they believed was their leader dead and decided to flee. They all knew their source of payment had come to a close after Dr. Thorn had been destroyed. So, they scattered not bothering to linger behind to feel the wrath of Perseus. It was satisfactory to the group for once tthey had won a battle instead of being the ones to flee.

"Alright follow me." Zoë took command as they left the San Francisco docks and took the most convenient vehicle and began driving to the mountain that was clouded in dark clouds and seemed to swirl a certain dark aura into the sky.

The traffic was abysmal. Mortals seemed to be intrigued instead of afraid as most cars seemed to head towards the dark and ominous mountain instead of going the opposite direction. Zoë honked the horn for consecutive minutes trying to will the cars to move. The drivers in front of her however weren't too nice as swearing, and insults could be heard. One driver opened his window to show Zoë the middle finger. The traffic gradually moved until they abandoned the car near the mountain and began to follow a path.

"We must be quiet from this point on. Ladon is near protecting Hera's tree. We must not alert him, or we will be in a serious dilemma.

"I wish Ladon was in mythomagic. He would probably be one of the strongest monsters." Nico whispered to Bianca as Bianca shushed him and urged him to stay quiet.

They were nearing the summit and the grass and bushes began to thicken. The native flowers began to separate themselves from the shadowy and translucent light as they crossed from an ordinary mortal hike to a divine garden. The flowers had a wide arrangement of colors but the most astonishing aspect of them is that they appeared to glow. They continued to walk through the brush of thick bushes, high grass, and beautiful flowers until they saw the Apples of Immortality glowing its gold divinity. Ladon was lounging and settled around the tree fast asleep.

The group had grown silent until they began to hear singing and voices perform notes of harmony. Zoë bit her tongue as she noticed the individuals singing in perfect tune and harmony were her sisters. They silently approached them and immediately the Hesperides stopped their perfect harmony and looked at Zoë with distasteful eyes.

"What are you doing here?" one of her sisters said as they stared daggers at their banished sister.

"We know lady Artemis is at the top of the mountain we must save her." Zoë explained as the Hesperides shook their heads vehemently.

"You will not pass. We will wake Ladon before you try to run towards the peak." They responded as the hundred headed dragon continued its slumber

Percy materialled his bow and channeled his power as the bow began to emit darkness and seemed to absorb the glowing light the flowers emitted. He grabbed two arrows from the quiver that appeared on his back and channeled flames on the silver tips of the arrows. He pointed his bow upwards and released. The arrows exploded into a meteor set of large flames. The explosion woke up Ladon as he smelled the air and caught the scent of intruders. He began to spit acidic and venomous excess out of its mouths in all directions as the Hesperides began to run for their lives. However, Ladon's showcase of power was short-lived as the meteor set of large flames came raining down on the unsuspecting defender of the Apples of Immortality. The flames hit Ladon in full force as the flames disintegrated the scales and eventually the flesh of the hundred dragons. The dragon roared in pain as it began to dissolve into dust leaving the Apples of Immortality unguarded.

"Ladon!" Zoë yelled. As the smoke and fire extinguished all that remained was the remains of golden dust.

"I'm sorry Zoë I cannot lose another member to this quest. Lead on." Percy reasoned with her. Zoë continued to look at spot where the mighty Ladon once stood and continued up the peak of the mountain.

Soon enough, they reached the peak of the mountain and noticed the goddess of the hunt in celestial bronze chains trapped under the sky her forehead beaded with sweat.

"Lady Artemis!" Zoë yelled as she ran towards the goddess barely holding the weight of the sky.

"No stay back it's a trap." Artemis warned but Zoë continued to her leader as she tried to destroy the chains.

"Listen to the goddess, would you?" The booming and authoritative voice of the general echoed through the ruined palace of the titans.

The General wasn't wearing any battle armor in particular as he was wearing the same brown silk suit that covered his broad shoulders from Washington D.C. Standing at his right side was Luke with a dozen guards of dracaena. On the other side standing on the general's left was Ridley who was holding onto Annabeth gingerly. He didn't seem to hold any malice in the treatment of Annabeth and seemed to only speak to her in murmurs. Behind them was a gold coffin that seemed to seep dark ominous smoke even though the coffin was closed. The aura that surrounded the coffin was of pure malice.

"Luke free Annabeth now!" Thalia demanded as Luke looked rather pale and scrawny from days prior at the museum in D.C.

"That is a decision that does not belong to me. It belongs to General Atlas." Luke pointed to the large broad-shouldered immortal in the brown silk suit.

"How are you my dearest one? You little traitor, it will give me great honor and pleasure to kill you." Atlas said as he was waiting for a challenge.

"Wait so he's your father?" Bianca asked as she pointed to the general who could only smile.

"Yes, my father is indeed Atlas, General of Kronos' Army. Titan of endurance" Zoë said through gritted teeth unhappy of revealing her evil father.

"Your parents do not define you. Remember even the evilest things can bring good Zoë, and he brought you." Percy reminded her as she looked determined to challenge her father.

"Do not challenge him Lieutenant that is an order." Artemis ordered Zoë who seemed to brush aside Artemis' warning.

Zoë looked towards her quest members and nodded. Together they charged the titan and the rest of his guard. Luke unsheathed his sword Backbiter as he clashed with Thalia as she continued her barrage of attacks using her spear and Aegis who Luke tried to avoid and look at. Bianca brought her bow and began to pelt the Dracanae with arrows. Zoë shot arrow after arrow at her father who merely caught them and crushed them with his immense hands. Ridley sat Annabeth down gently next to Artemis who noticed the kind gesture. Ridley unsheathed a sword similar to Luke's. With exception that one half of his sword was crafted of imperial gold and the other half was of celestial bronze.

Percy materialized his spear and proceeded to crush the remaining dracanae with ease as he slashed and dodged their strikes. He knew he couldn't hold or restrain his power any longer. A silver aura was emitting from Perseus as he continued to destroy dracanae after dracanae until there wasn't any left. He made his move to Artemis who looked at Perseus with a guarded expression but from her eyes she had a sense of relief. With his bare hands he ripped the chains apart as Artemis power ceased to be drained by the chains.

Nico was fighting against Ridley. Although the boy was merely ten, he was holding his own against Ridley who was fourteen years old. However, Perseus knew Ridley wasn't trying to hurt Nico as he was mostly on the defensive not even bothering to strike against Nico.

"I'll be taking the weight of the sky from this point on. Your lieutenant needs you." Percy said not bothering to check Artemis' reaction. Perseus braced his shoulders as he got under the invisible burden. Artemis let go and Percy could feel the weight of the sky. His shoulder muscles bulged as the burden was barely bearable. His supernatural strength the only reason he wasn't collapsing from the weight.

He could see Thalia was pushing Luke to the brink of defeat as she had him cornered towards the edge of the cliff. Ridley decided to disengage against the Di Angelo siblings as he had an arrow sticking in his left bicep. The long sleeve was beginning to seep and drip blood. However, Atlas had Zoë and Artemis cornered. Artemis' power had been drained by the chains and mostly likely from the burden of the sky.

"Percy let me take the weight." A voice broke him out of his analysis of the battle. He noticed it was Nico.

"You cannot possibly think you can hold this Nico. Even for me it's a bit unbearable." Percy explained. Nico with sheer determination in his eyes believed otherwise.

A scream echoed through the mountaintop as Atlas pierced Zoë's thigh with his javelin. Atlas had summoned his battle armor as he attacked Artemis who parried the titan's attacks. Zoë was bleeding as her thigh fabric begin to darken with red blood. Zoë gingerly got to her feet not letting a deep wound keep her dazed for long.

She saw an opening through her father's distraction and attacked Atlas' calf with her hunting knives as they bounced harmlessly from his armor. Atlas turned and hit Zoe in the midsection with the blunt end of the javelin as she fell once more crying in immense pain. Artemis turned on the offensive, but Atlas looked like he was toying with the tired and power drained goddess.

Percy returned his attention to Nico as he nodded. "Only for a few minutes I have to help them."

Nico got on one knee and took the burden of the sky and was almost crushed under the weight as he carried the weight of the sky on his knees unable to stand up and put that much stress on his back and shoulders. His hair was already starting to whiten the stress seemingly making him age. Bianca freed Annabeth who was also sweating and breathing heavily. Annabeth pointed towards Nico noticing that he was struggling under the weight of the sky. Bianca noticing his brother struggle also helped him share the burden as she got on her knees and took some of the burden of her brother's shoulders.

Percy summoned his bow and fired an arrow of sheer energy that hit Atlas in the back as he was pushed forward as Artemis dodged the falling General. Artemis joined Percy's side as she looked tired and was barely standing and breathing heavily. In their distraction, Atlas heaved his javelin with such force Percy didn't have time to summon an invisible forcefield. The javelin went in slow motion towards the goddess of the hunt and in the last moment Zoë jumped in front of her lady and was impaled by the javelin in her midsection. The sheer force of the javelin pushed Zoë into Artemis as they both were knocked back into a rocky wall of the mountain.

Percy's rage overtook him as gusts of wind began to fill the mountain top. Silver and fiery aura enveloped the titan as he summoned a broad sword made of celestial silver and attacked Atlas relentlessly. Atlas could only smirk and laugh at his accomplishment and silliness of Zoë for using herself as human shield to protect Artemis. With each strike Percy landed on the General the rocky ground began to crack from the sheer power being emitted from the son of Selene. Percy channeled his adoptive father's power of the sun's flames into his sword has his sword was enveloped in flames. The sheer heat began to discourage Atlas as he had only felt that raw heat and anger from Hyperion in his lifetime. Atlas had the blessing of having supernatural reserves of endurance. But with each strike that got through his guard he began to weaken. He was losing and he began to panic. Percy pushed the titan near the Di Angelo siblings who were starting to lose consciousness and he nodded to them. Percy on his last offensive pushed Atlas hard into the sky as the Di Angelo siblings barely were able to get out of the way.

"NO!" Atlas roared in anger as he was trapped under his burden and eternal punishment once again.

Luke was defeated but before Thalia could push him off the cliff Ridley grabbed Luke and jumped off the cliff willingly as he shielded their high fall with the water that was settled at the bottom of the cliff. They disappeared as they submerged into the water.

"They survived." Nico said although he didn't know exactly how he knew. Thalia and Annabeth looked at each other and knew it wasn't the last they would see of the two traitors.

Seeing as Atlas was no longer a threat, they turned their attention to the barely living lieutenant of Artemis who was holding her hand as a single tear dropped from her eye.

"Shush my lieutenant my most loyal huntress. Your time has come." Artemis whispered to Zoë who smiled as her eyes began to gloss over.

Thalia, the Di Angelo siblings, Annabeth, and Perseus joined Artemis and her lieutenant as they witnessed Zoë's final moments. Zoë was a brave warrior one who was determined to serve Artemis to the best of her abilities. One to serve the hunt with great pride.

"Perseus." Zoë called him to her side as he looked confused.

"You were right. Even some of the evilest beings can sprout some form of good. I believe you." She coughed as blood trickled from the side of her mouth.

"You made me believe that there are some males in the world that still have honor and goodness within them. You proved that to me. Altair proved that to me." She continued as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"I gave Heracles something that was very dear to me. But he rejected like it was not worthy of his attention. I want to give you that gift that he rejected. It's the clip in my hair." Zoë looked at Artemis who understood as she unclipped the pin from her lieutenant's hair and handed it to Percy.

Percy accepted the hairclip. The hairclip turned into a bronze celestial sword with perfect weight and perfect length. He willed it to return into its hairclip form as he smiled at Zoë who retuned the smile graciously.

"Thalia I'm sorry for treating you so harshly." Zoë looked at Thalia whose eyes were already red from tearing up.

"Don't say anything Zoë. You did nothing wrong." Zoë nodded.

Zoë's eyes began to lose the glint of life as she looked into the sky. The night sky full of stars and constellations. Artemis and Percy looked into the sky along with her. The irony was that it was a beautiful night with the stars shining in greater light unlike previous nights. The lieutenants breathing became ragged and forced.

"It's time to rest my sister in arms." Artemis said as she kissed Zoë's forehead as the life of her eyes began to darken and then there was no light in the eyes just darkness and blankness. Zoë's body began to dissipate into particles of light and floated into the night sky becoming a new constellation in the night sky.

The demigods cried in union as another one of their friends had died. One that stuck with them through thick and thin. Even through the worst moments she didn't flee or complain she lingered to fight with her comrades.

"It is time to return to Olympus. We must travel there quickly. The Winter Solstice is almost among us." Artemis interrupted. She summoned her moon chariot. They all climbed onto the chariot and flew to Olympus.

 **Page Break**

As they arrived at Olympus and went through the large arched door of the Olympian palace and into the council chamber, they were greeted by the assembled Olympians seated in their seats of power. With the exception of Artemis who quickly grew to twenty feet to sit atop her seat of power. Grover was present in the Olympian Chamber near the Ophiotaurus who was placed in a bubble almost cage like.

They had decided before the questers arrival that the Ophiotaurus would be kept on Olympus where all Olympians were strongest and where they could protect it.

The god of the dead Hades was also present sitting in a smaller chair on the outer edge of the Olympian council clearly showing that he had no voting power. They were in an argument as they finally turned their attention to the returned demigods and Percy who also grew into a twenty-foot-tall titan as to not look insignificant towards the Olympians.

"They are a risk, to rely our reign on a demigod is dangerous." Athena argued with Zeus who seemed keen on keeping her child alive.

"I will not destroy my child." Zeus argued.

"There is still the issue that Hades also has one child that can also be child of the prophecy." Athena continued as she looked at Nico.

"I will not let you destroy my children. They born were before the pact was created so I didn't break the oath we swore upon." Hades bellowed and dared anyone to challenge him.

"We cannot destroy the heroes that saved me. I will not have that." Artemis sided with Zeus opposing Athena's view on destroying them.

"Then there is the issue of other demigods defecting to Kronos' side. That will not bode well for us nor the morale of our demigod children." Athena pointed to the obvious.

"We shall take a vote. Those in favor to destroying My daughter Thalia and the death spawn." Zeus declared and asked. Only three Olympians rose their hands. Athena, Dionysus, and Ares who didn't like to entrust their future to mere demigods.

"So, we shall reward them." Artemis immediately chimed in before the Olympians could come up with another death proposal to the demigods.

Thalia was sufficed to say that she didn't want anything from the Olympians. She accepted their decision of keeping her alive and didn't believe she needed anything else.

"Nico son of Hades, your father has decided to bestow onto you the precious sword hand crafted by himself." Artemis stated as Hades unveiled a nice and exquisite stygian blade. Nico marveled at It as he quickly accepted the stygian sword with its nice black leather holster looking at his father unbelieving that he was a child of Hades.

"Bianca" Artemis grabbed the attention of her huntress as she stood to attention. "Do you accept to become my new lieutenant of the hunt." Bianca looked shocked as she nodded. "Yes, Lady Artemis, I will serve you and the hunt with my absolute best."

Everyone's attention turned to the twenty-foot titan as they looked at him warily. Seemingly feeling threatened by Percy's power. They had witnessed first-hand his capabilities as he was able to stand toe to toe against Atlas and even defeat him.

"Perseus. I had spoken with the council before my capture they have accepted your terms to join the Olympian side." Artemis trailed before her father Zeus continued for her.

"We have decided that you will lead the offensive initiative against the titans. You will assist Athena, Ares, and Artemis on creating our battle strategies to combat and situate our armies to assure us victory." Zeus stated as Perseus looked amazed that they had accepted his proposal.

"First before we accept you titan. Who was the one that bore you? The one that bestowed you with such strength and power?" Zeus asked as the entire Olympian Council looked on at Percy.

"I am son of Selene. Selene the former Titaness of the Moon, Night, and Radiance. She was the one who rode the moon chariot during the night before Artemis took her place." Percy responded looking at Artemis and then to Zeus.

"How do you explain your ability to control the sun and its flames?" Zeus continued his inquiries and questioning.

"My adoptive father Helios, Titan of the sun, bestowed me his power before he faded." Percy responded truthfully as he looked at Apollo who now understood why he seemed to loathe him and his twin. Although Percy's loathing towards had severely deteriorated. He didn't despise them any longer.

"Very well. Once we win the war Perseus, we the Olympian council will grant you the wish that is within our power." He nodded at them. As the council was about to adjourn Perseus proposed an idea.

"I have a proposal to make sure only one demigod can be the one for the great prophecy." Percy relayed to the Olympians who nodded for him to continue.

"I also lost my lieutenant from my hunt. And I would like Nico to become my next lieutenant should he accept." Percy looked at Nico who looked starstruck.

"Yes, I accept. Lord Perseus." Nico bowed as he recanted the oath of becoming an eternal brother to the brotherhood of the male hunt that belonged to Perseus. Percy removed his ring and bestowed it onto Nico, the same ring he had bestowed to Altair all those centuries ago. Percy knew that Nico would carry with great dignity.

"Hades I will keep watch of him. Just like Artemis will keep watch of Bianca." Hades nodded seeing the sheer joy from both of his children. IF they were happy, he would accept the decisions they had chosen.

And now the entire Olympian allies had to make sure they didn't lose the damn war.

 **A/N Welp this chapter was actually was supposed to be published yesterday but I hadn't finished the entire chapter. This chapter was rather long, and it took me quite a few hours to complete. Anyhow, this finished the Titan's Curse Arc and I have no idea if Battle of the Labyrinth should be in play or should I just go into the Last Olympian and the great war Arc. You guys decide, I guess.**

 **Also, I know this isn't my strongest chapter because it isn't really well written. But I just wanted to push out content to you guys and girls since I tend to go MIA for months on end. But I hope you can forgive me for some grammatical errors even for rushing some of the events within the story. Also, the skeletal warriors can't and won't follow the group anymore because since** **Zo** **ë is dead and her body no longer viable and into the stars, they have no way to track them any longer.**

 **I've been wanting to write about something else as well anyone got any good ideas to start a new fanfic story on? Let me know.**

 **I hope you like the chapter, please review and let me know what you liked. :)**


End file.
